F1 safety future

During the qualilication of the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009 Felipe Massa was struck on the helmet by a suspension spring that had fallen from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP, on a high-speed part of the track. After this horrible accident many people voiced their opinion that Formula 1 needed to become a safer sport.

This inspired Jacek Kolodziejczyk to create a total redesign of a modern Formula One car with new air intakes, front wing, rear wing and most noticeable a closed cockpit that protects the drivers better from being hit by debris or loose parts of other cars

Spoiler:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e87HIlOIYFA&feature=player_embedded

How would you take to f1 cars looking like this in the future?

F1 is clearly at the forefront of motorsport safety and has made dramatic improvements to car design and driver protection. Changes to track layout with paving replacing sand traps has also been proof of further protection and safety measure seen in F1. These changes have led to significant reductions to the amount of injuries sustained in F1 and more importantly has seen no fatalities since the shocking death of Ayrton Senna.

In my opinion there is no need to introduce 'closed cockpits' into F1.

Quite honestly it seems more dangerous to have enclosed cockpits due to if the car catches fire

The idea of closed cockpits has also been talked about in IndyCar after Dan Wheldon's accident.

Would be a big shift.

'Closed Cockpits' would also take away the 'connection' between driver & fan in my opinion. I understand you could have cameras in the cockpit but in my opinion I want to see the driver's head for the whole race, witnessing different styles of driving position and the use of the steering wheel, especially with so many buttons playing a key role in performance. Also the risk of an incident such as 'fire' and the time to remove yourself is also an issue.

That car looks awesome!

We get the feed to watch British Touring Cars and I can't say when watching it there is no disconnection from us watching and him driving.

If the cars all look similar to this then you can count me and the Monzacutians in! It looks stunning!

the car looks stunning ! if its safe enough and the drivers can get out before they burn i dont see why not they should use it

p.s any one notice the Polish Flag as well as the Kubica sticker on the side window?

As fernando said, my biggest worry would be how does the driver get out, in the event of an accident?

Its also a non-starter, as far as I'm concerned, due to wet-weather races. Unless you include windscreen wipers (or maybe air jets) to clear the screen, how is the driver supposed to see?

At least they can wipe their helmet visors on the straights, or get rid of a tear-off.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18104886

Update on safety within F1 and the potential for additional head protection being introduced to the sport.

The bad accidents such as Massa's are clearly blips. Look at how many drivers race weekend after weekend, compared to how many that are seriously injured or killed. The proportion is small.

I can only see this as an over reaction. imo closed cockpit i wouldnt enjoy seeing and pose possible safety issues itself. And as DW said, what about rain.

I think a forward roll bar, running down the middle of the cockpit would be feasible if they insist on introducing some form of physical protection. At least that would still leave large gaps on either side for the driver to get out.

Personally I would prefer to see re-designed wheel tethers, to prevent them coming off in the first place. If they want roll-protection as well, they could introduce some reinforcing around the air box.

Its also worth remembering it was part of Barrichello's exhaust that hit Massa...not a wheel, which makes it even more of a freak accident (wheels being big and bouncy and more prone to travelling long distances if they come off).