Red Bull might try out head protection
Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner revealed that his team may try out its own interpretation of head protection in the forthcoming Russian GP if the following tests give positive results. Its version is a different one to the ones presented recently.
Formula 1 has managed to raise its safety standards to a very high level. The number of fatal crashes in motorsport in general has significantly decreased due to intensive researches completed in recent time, especially in the last two decades.
Most of the recent serious injuries have been head injuries. In an effort to further decrease the possibility of that, thorough research started with many different solutions.
Ferrari presented its own version during winter testing. Opinions about the so called halo system were divided. Some argued that its protecting role cannot overcome its “ugliness”. Some argues that any device has to prioritise safety over looks.
Red Bull has also been working hard on its on interpretation which is very different to the one of Ferrari. Its version is a canopy which is visually more appealing. However, some question how the visibility can be in rain or driving in traffic with oil coming off other cars.
"We're going to test the canopy solution over the next week,” said Horner to Sky Sports.
The Briton thinks it’s a better solution compared to halo both in terms of visibility and safety.
"I think the canopy offers a bit more protection because it does have a windscreen. It's a more elegant solution.“
"We believe there's better visibility and it's a more elegant solution to the brief, rather than the boomerang thing that is the halo."
The governing body, FIA wants to test different possible solutions and introduce the best one as of 2017.
