After the deaths of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon (2011), Justin Wilson (2015), Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi (2015) and the injury sustained by Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa when he was hit by a flying coil spring from another car in the face/head have put a huge spotlight on open-wheeled racing. There has been a call to alter cockpits to better protect the drivers, but to what extent “better protection” needs to be has been up for debate by drivers, teams and the industry. Currently there are two designs: One, known as the “Halo” (and informally, “the thong”), involves an object-override system with a center bar that comes down directly in front of the driver, acting as a strike bar. There have been mixed reactions…some are positive and laud it’s safety while others deride it as aesthetically horrifying. The other form is the “aeroscreen”, which is shaped like an open-topped canopy and is sharply raked. Unlike the Halo, the aeroscreen does not have a central bar, so in order to demonstrate it’s effectiveness, a Formula 1 wheel assembly and a 1kg weight were fired at an aeroscreen mockup at speed to prove that the material would hold up. Check out the impacts below and be grateful it’s not you nearly catching a tire to the face at 140 or so miles an hour…
Wow. A screen that wraps around the cockpit.Why didn’t anyone think of that before….. Oh wait….Another first from the fastest(not) most technologically advanced(maybe)most boring Motorsport on earth.Watching people try to reverse park is WAY more entertaining than this crap.
Just put roofs on them, fit huge V8s add in a jolt of nitrous and have some fun..
Its a death defying sport. Thats why we watch. Thats why they get paid the big bucks. Why not a complete super cell like hydroplanes with its own air supply in case of fire. No wait how about we hire little pudgy vitamin d deficient momma’s boys to race them remotely like a drone from thier ps4. Some of you are gonna die and in the moments before you can think of the multi million dollar legacy you left for your family and the multiple 3 ways and 4 ways you had with the triplet and twins in Monaco. Stop being a bitch or take up chess you F’N chumps. I hope Steve MCQueen comes back and kicks your stupid little girl balls to the top of your stupid mouth. Over paid sissies should be sitting on the gas tank.