Would a covered cockpit have helped Bianchi ?

[Just_a_fan]

blackangus, that's rather my point; there are people crying that something must be done because they've seen it on TV and it's a "big name" driver. The logical conclusion to the "something must be done" hysteria is to remove the driver from danger totally; there will always be a way for a driver to be killed or seriously injured so long as the car contains a driver.

My view is that F1 doesn't need closed cockpits or "debris bars" around the cockpit. My view is that it's being driven by the "something must be done" brigade who don't actually care about the drivers; they only care about their own reaction to the stark realities of life and how that reaction can be pacified.

[Hobbs04]

Top gear inspired head protection. Instead of trying to turn f1 cars into sedans lik LMP cars.

[Andres125sx]

Who said it´s ok to have deaths in feeder series? But last time I checked this was F1T, so we discuss about F1 safety.

Also, feeder series always follow F1 route when aplicable, like HANS, implemented by F1, then used everywhere.

I´ll skip some other nosense arguments I´ve read talking about bicycles, bridades or realities of life...

[theblackangus]

Who said it´s ok to have deaths in feeder series? But last time I checked this was F1T, so we discuss about F1 safety.

Also, feeder series always follow F1 route when aplicable, like HANS, implemented by F1, then used everywhere.

I´ll skip some other nosense arguments I´ve read talking about bicycles, bridades or realities of life...

Well you were talking LMP and Wilson kept getting brought it.

[Andres125sx]

Deaths by head blows by objects from outside the car are likely very far down the list of motorsports related deaths (as a whole, but maybe not). Does anyone have any solid stats around motorsport deaths at all levels of racing say for 10 years, that would be interesting to see?

Comparing deaths in motorsports as a whole is absurd. Including in same stats deaths in F1 and deaths in NASCAR is comparing apples to oranges, too different cars, too diffferent tracks... But if you compare single seaters with open cockpits, then exposed heads relevance increase the percentage noticeably, specially in modern days when most of the dangerous factors have been minimized.

At any rate we should have another thread around "Motorsports safety" that isn't Jules related

Agree on this, I was focused on F1 safety but this is Bianchi´s thread so I´ll stop the cockpit discussion here, and I think most of us agree in this case a closed cockpit probably would have changed nothing.

[theblackangus]

Deaths by head blows by objects from outside the car are likely very far down the list of motorsports related deaths (as a whole, but maybe not). Does anyone have any solid stats around motorsport deaths at all levels of racing say for 10 years, that would be interesting to see?

Comparing deaths in motorsports as a whole is absurd. Including in same stats deaths in F1 and deaths in NASCAR is comparing apples to oranges, too different cars, too diffferent tracks... But if you compare single seaters with open cockpits, then exposed heads relevance increase the percentage noticeably, specially in modern days when most of the dangerous factors have been minimized.

No its not absurd, thats like saying looking at health trends is absurd because of xyz conditions being different. Maybe in the way you envisioned my statement, but if you take broad look across all categories it would be interesting to see which categories have the most injuries and what they are and why. I'm saying if goal is to help stop harm then pick where you can do the most good with the effort. After the goal of safety shouldn't be just making celebrities safe.

[Andres125sx]

If goal is to help stop harm and pick where you can do the most good with the effort then you should stop thinking about motorsports and go to Africa to help some children, with the cost of a single HANS you can save some.

But I´m not trying to save the world, I´m just a F1 fan who realiced there´s a pattern about last F1 deaths and close calls so IMO it should be solved, like any other dangerous pattern causing dangerous situations repeteadly.

[Moose]

Alan McNish has written a nice part on the BBC's web page about the potential changes, and the drivers' attitude towards them:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/34065061

[Andres125sx]

Thanks Moose, the article explains all I´ve been trying to explain in this thread, but much better obviously.

I guess it´s trend the word I should have used when talking about patterns

[FW17]

Does anyone know the size (aprox) of the allard group c car monocoque? looks mighty small

[siskue2005]

would be useful if you could post the actual picture of the car

[Jolle]

the last big step in driver protection came after the deaths in italy in 1994, more then 20 years ago. what they did then, they should do now. Sit down with people who know their stuff and come up with more then simple add-ons on the current car design. Since the introduction of the headrests it's been all patches and add-ons.

time to reimagine open wheel racing for the next decade. The 1.6 PU is the technical step, to keep F1 relevant, now it's time to work on a chassis that is of this time, or better, a look into the future.

[FW17]

[Just_a_fan]

Sit down with people who know their stuff and come up with more then simple add-ons on the current car design. Since the introduction of the headrests it's been all patches and add-ons.
.

The one thing they must do is spend as much time looking at how any changes can make things worse as well as better. IndyCar is a good lesson. They designed a hole into the aero package to reduce the chance of the cars taking off in an accident. It worked very well and everyone was happy. Then the cars started to take off if they were spun round and were going backwards at 200mph. The very same hole that helped when going forwards made the cars more likely to take off when going backwards! Unintended consequences must always be considered in any solution.

[FW17]

That hole had nothing to do with it.

Any car with a diffuser or tunnel will flip when it is run backward