AUTO / ISSUE #13
Leading Swiss lawyer and Global Institute chairman Luc Argand has been involved in motor sport for many years, working with the FIA since the 1980s.
“ DANGER IS PART OF THE GAME, BUT THE PRICE F1 PAID FOR 40 YEARS WAS SO HUGE” LUC ARGAND, CHAIRMAN GLOBAL INSTITUTE
28
TOP-LEVEL RESEARCH The high-technology projects are driven by the categories at the pinnacle of motor sport, such as Formula One, the World Endurance Championship and the World Rally Championship. This research - a continuation of projects initiated by the FIA Institute is focused on pushing the boundaries of what is survivable in a competition vehicle. “The danger is part of the game, but the price that Formula One paid for 40 years was so huge,” says Argand. “We are not in a Roman arena any more where death was considered a normal part of events. “If you look at the history of Ferrari, every year there was a fatal incident with one pilot dying, or even more, until the beginning of the 1980s. It was terrible and I want to make sure that the work the Global Institute does means avoiding a return to that. There is no longer any romanticism associated with death.” Improved accident analysis will be central to this. This is why the Global Institute has developed a high-speed cockpit camera for Formula One, which records the movement of a driver’s head and torso during an accident. When played back in slow motion, this will show high-speed events in far greater detail than was previously possible. The technology will be implemented in Formula One next year with a view to filtering it down to other championships in following years. “I think the Formula One programme is likely to be just the start. We’ll certainly be looking to use this technology to further help to develop safety across motor sport.” Another project that will help to gather important data on drivers is one that is focusing on ear accelerometer biometrics. F1 drivers already have accelerometers built into their ear-pieces to measure the movement and forces on their head during an accident. Global