A hoop on the front of F1 cars to protect the drivers?
Always seeking any possibility to improve safety, the International Automobile Federation is relentlessly addressing the problem of the lack of driver protection against objects, particularly tires, that might strike their helmets. An update on one of the FIA Institute's developments.
After mentioning last year the possibility of implementing a windshield or canopy to protect drivers’ heads, modeled after fighter jet cockpits, the FIA Institute, whose role is to develop safety in motorsport, has already begun testing its latest cockpit protection system.
Working in partnership with Lotus F1, the institute developed a sort of front protection hoop to deflect any object heading towards the driver’s helmet. Since 1994, following the fatal accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, and the serious accident of Karl Wendlinger, safety has been a constant concern for Formula 1 authorities. The protection of the last vulnerable area of a Formula 1 driver, namely the head, became a real focus for the authorities after Felipe Massa’s incident at the Hungaroring in 2009—where the Brazilian was hit on the helmet by a spring that had escaped from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP. This incident was preceded, a few days earlier, by the death of Henry Surtees, who was struck on the head by a tire from another Formula 2 car at the Brands Hatch circuit.
The device, fixed between the nose of the single-seater and the pilot’s cockpit, is essentially a safety hoop made of a tubular metal frame. The first tests—which you can find in the video accompanying this article—demonstrated its resistance to impact with a 20 kg tire propelled at 225 km/h. This successful test will pave the way for further studies that could potentially lead to the implementation of this solution in the future on single-seaters, particularly in Formula 1.
The roll hoop has fully fulfilled its role. It was able to keep the wheel away from the driver’s head. We have tested this system both when the wheel comes straight or from the side, said Andy Moeller, technical advisor at the Institute, while admitting that additional tests will need to be conducted to measure the impact on the driver’s vision with the presence of this system. If these different stages are passed successfully, the work can be presented to the Formula 1 Technical Working Group. At this stage, it’s pure research that we need. We need to understand the forces of such a collision. We are not yet at a definitive solution.
