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I don't think Honda's F1 rep could get much worse, after last season I'm sure both Mclaren and Honda would take a few blown engines/other technical failures as long as they were regularly in the points when they did finish over another year like 2015

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RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

Proving that *someone* in F1 can agree on *something*, the GPDA have unanimously agreed to ask for the implementation of cockpit protection in 2017:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/35397533

Apparently, the 'halo' design is the one the want. Oh, and also they want Pirelli to introduce tyres that can be pushed properly.

I must say, for all of our discussion and debate over whether to have cockpit protection and what kind might work, the FIA would be pretty stupid to ignore a direct request from the people who actually drive the cars...

Euh, that halo design would not have helped Bianchi or Massa. It would be interesting to actually see a simulation of how this would have prevented Surtees death. Or Vitolla (sorry if i misspelled) accident. Otherwise go closed cockpits, this is getting ridiculous. The F1 went from men with balls to youngsters with money.

Personally, it will just increase silly driving in the end. Marshalls and public will carry the higher risk. There are more spectator deaths every single year, then this gimmich helps prevent in 20 years.

To be honest, modern F1 is almost a closed-cockpit anyway. You can't see much of what the driver is doing from the outside, and head restraints prevent any head tilting in corners and all what used to be exciting to watch (although I concede it was ridiculously dangerous in lateral impacts).

Better close it altogether like F1 boats, instead of trying to maintain some semblance of an open cockpit that is nothing but a shallow meaningless shell of what it used to be.

Why should it be F1 to first test cockpit protection? Do a couple of season in FE, F3 or AutoGP and see how it behaves in flips, fires, crashes and contacts with debris. I mean, surely similar structure is required in every lower open-wheel series? Or is the life of F1 drivers more important than that of Super Formula or Brazilian F3?

Personally I wouldn't change the looks of car just because once in 30 years someone might get knocked out. It's a tolerable risk, just like the risk involving the possibility of start crashes and a tyre hitting people at pitstop. If serious accidents happened every year, that would be a different story.

Just logged in, read the news and thought to myself: has there ever been a year where refuelling and/or messing with the weekend-format hasn't been discussed? It's almost a joke.

look at his helmet and see the lack of safety

the canopy is still the better choice but who knows what would happen if there's a flip followed by fire

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Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

Don't think that kind of situation would happen these days, because rollbars are higher, the head restraints are higher and gravel traps aren't made like that anymore. A car going forward won't flip (and it wouldn't in Warwick's case, if it wasn't for that silly bump).

Where do you live? Requirements are considerably different in lower categories when it comes to overall safety. The circuits don't need the same requirements and the cars certainly aren't as though as F1 cars.

just taking a comparison with the examples showed by coldtyre

today if that happens with the usual tarmac runoff areas, his head could've been ripped off

the point is that cars are already safe enough, what they should do is to stop coming up with dumb ideas

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Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

I think it's fair to say that most (if not all) recent safety advances in open-wheel racing have trickled down from F1, the most obvious examples being head restraints, wheel tethers and the Massa strip. F1 mandates it, and most other categories that aren't GP2 follow at least a season later, probably because no other series has the budget or development pace.

Well then F1 should be the first to start with closed cockpits as they have mostly always been first to introduce new regulations.

Yes, and this reveals the paradox, namely, that F1 drivers are traditionally depicted as the bravest few who risk their lives in the circuit, whereas their colleagues in lower feeder series and low-standard national circuits are in fact in most dangerous position. The question is, if all open-wheel classes had unlimited money and workforce, what their final goal would be? Would they cover their cars, develop everything in terms of ultimate safety, and stop racing at dangerous tracks like Brands Hatch or Zandvoort and built 20 new Austins? Would all the open-wheel classes look same if they had unlimited budget?
I don't know where I'm going so I leave it here.

I think the push towards better head protection is the right thing to do, I personally would miss the open cockpit formula but if it helps save a driver from suffering a serious injury or death then I think its worth doing.

The thing I don't like however is pushing to have something by a certain date because I think this is something they have to properly investigate to ensure that whatever solution they come up with really is the best solution & that it doesn't introduce a set of additional problems which end up causing more problems than the initial solution solved.



On tyres, Pirelli will have a new tyre construction for this year:
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns32936.html

But how many times did the open cockpit actually cause a problem? And IMHO we can disgard Bianchi's and de Villota's crash as both where pretty much freak accidents with circumstances that normally wouldn't happen.

Disregarding aspects is what led to those accidents in the first place....

If F1 goes the closed cockpit route I will probably just start watching the WEC.

Bit of perspective is needed here just how miniscule the incidents of drivers getting hit on the head or suffering head injuries in open wheel racing really is. There are all manner of open wheel racing going on most weekends around the world and if it were such a big problem then there would be incidents every other week of injuries or fatalities. There isn't, and until there is a pattern its just a knee jerk reaction.

The 'all manor of open wheel racing going on most weekends' doesn't have a live TV audience running into the tens of millions, this isn't about safety, it's about them wanting to be seen to be doing something because they're scared to death of what will happen to their viewership figures should one of their hero's be decapitated on live TV....

So err, yeah, knee jerk reaction (although a bit of a slow one, since the movement had all but been forgotten until Wilson's accident).

funny thing is that years ago Nelson Piquet said that people watch the races expecting huge crashes and mayhem, but he didn't advocate for safety or even more speed, he just wanted to race

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Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

It would increase, if anything. It's not like all Brazillians stopped watching f1 after May 1st 1994.

F1 Is safer then ever. Freak accidents will happen. No matter what you do. Thinking about the stepped nose shit, this 'development' will look ten times worse. To prevent maybe a freak death every 20 years. Maybe.