AUTO / ISSUE #14
Could this be the solution in the quest for improved racing car cockpit safety?
This is a driver’s-eye view of a Formula One wheel assembly hurtling towards him at 225 km/h. At a distance of 20 metres it would hit that driver’s helmet in under 0.3 seconds and the outcome would be catastrophic. Fortunately, this ‘driver’ is an empty helmet on the track surface of an airfield in South-East England. And the wheel is being fired from a two-metre long pneumatic cannon under strict test conditions. More importantly, this particular wheel is being deflected over the helmet by a structure that would sit on the front of the monocoque of an open-wheel racing car. The wheel is scraping along a set of intentionally-curved fins that lead the object up and over the driver’s helmet. It is all part of an ongoing pursuit by the FIA and its partners to improve safety for drivers in open-wheel racing cars, particularly from external objects. This project started four years ago but has recently taken on extra momentum following a number of injuries and fatalities in the sport. “We have tried to accelerate this project in the last 12 months with an aim to have something that we can practically apply on the
23