F1 closed cockpit7/8/2023 There will always be those fans that say that tradition outweighs the benefits of new ideas like enclosed cockpits, even those that say they won't even watch a formula car series that has gone to enclosed cockpits. With an enclosed cockpit they may even be able to push the cars faster on the super speedway like some have hoped. This will probably be a huge endeavor by Indycar and Dallara because the car may have to be redesigned in order to accommodate a canopy, and that takes years of engineering. I think the time may be now to stop talking and start researching and developing.Īs a race fan, and as a safety professional, I don't think that driver safety should be sacrificed for speed. If you do an internet search for "Indycar enclosed cockpit," you will find articles from every year for the last decade talking about the possibilities of them. After Dan Wheldon died in 2011, the internet exploded with ideas about enclosed cockpits for Indycars. Indycar has talked about enclosed cockpits, and so have the fans, off and on over the years. Issues that will have to be discussed and researched further would definitely be visibility for the driver and in my mind coming from a fire service background is if and how the canopy will change the structure of the car for greater rollover protection, and finally extrication from the cockpit. Several F1 teams have stated it would be easy to incorporate canopies into future cars. If you go to Youtube and look up the FIA Institute you can find videos of crash tests of the different devices. The FIA has been researching different devices, including fighter plane-type canopies as options for next generation F1 cars. This idea has met with resistance from the formula purest but is gaining traction in recent years. The biggest advancement that many are advocating and have been talking about since the mid 1990's is enclosing the cockpit of the formula cars. Some say that it just wouldn't be Indycar or Formula 1 without open cockpits. This is also the reason why for so many years in the early and mid part of the 20th century, formula car drivers didn't even wear seatbelts. Methanol fires are fast moving and if the car is on fire, an open cockpit allows for quick exit of the driver or fast extrication. The original, and still I believe, biggest argument for open cockpits is quick escape in the event of fire. The question remains, what can be done to make formula cars safer? Felipe Massa also sustained a skull fracture in 2009 from a piece of debris at the Hungarian Grand Prix, James Hinchcliffe was hit in the head by debris at the Grand Prix of Indy in 2014, and this list doesn't even cover LMP cars and I'm sure this doesn't cover every injury or death from debris or head trauma, these are just the ones I can think of since 1994. Ayrton Senna was killed by a piece from the right front suspension at Imola 1994, Jeff Krosnoff from an airborne collision with a bridge pier at Toronto in 1996, Greg Moore from a collision with an inside wall at Auto Club Speedway in 1999, and most recently Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas in 2011. The open cockpit design is definitely thrilling for both driver and spectator to watch, but has proven fatal in the past. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem in formula car racing. This incident follows the recent death of Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi from a traumatic brain injury sustained in last year's Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit. Yesterday the Indycar community collectively held it's breath when Justin Wilson was hit by debris and flown to Allentown, PA in critical condition. Indycar or F1, it didn't matter to me as long as it was open wheel and went fast. My father has always been a fan of stock cars, but I have had a special place in my heart for formula cars for years. I'd watch Formula 1 Sunday mornings before church and Indycar and NASCAR on Sunday afternoons. Since I was a little boy I have loved all kinds of racing.
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