Open Cockpit Safety - Active Cockpit Protection

In recent times there has been plenty of debate about improving safety in Formula One and open wheel racing.  The reason of course has the death of 5 drivers in open cockpits since 2009.

Henry Surtees, Dan Wheldon, Maria de Villota, Jules Bianchi and Justin Wilson.

A lot of this debate has centred around 2 particular ideas which involve a permanent addition to the car while racing: the halo and the canopy.  But perhaps there is a compromise?

The idea is now being dubbed "Active Cockpit Protection".  This involves the car itself providing maximum protection to the driver when they need it most - in a very big accident.

Consider this ... the driver has had a bad accident or there is a dangerous, life threatening hazard ahead.  They have a critical few seconds or less until disaster...

So what can they do?  At the moment they can do nothing.

Perhaps, with imminent disaster looming they could push a button or pull a lever and this deploys the car itself into "accident mode".  The car then instantly creates the safest possible environment for the driver to survive.

This could be much more than just an airbag which happens in road cars at the point of impact.  This is technology could be deployed BEFORE, during and after impact.  Once initiated, in microseconds a screen could deploy to increase safety substantially.  The car could change from being a aerodynamic device to the ultimate safety cell, cushioning the driver and protecting exposed areas.   

Take the example of Ayrton Senna's death.  There was a crucial time between when his Williams was on the circuit lapping normally and when Senna knew that he was going to connect with the wall very hard indeed.  It is during those key moments, given modern technology, something could be deployed to provide maximum safety and maximum chance of survival.  It's about "telling" the car that a big accident is about to happen.  This kind of technology could have saved Senna's life.

In fact Active Cockpit Protection could have potentially saved the lives of all 5 drivers mentioned above with the possible exception of Maria de Villota.

An issue with this idea could be additional safety concerns, i.e. what about the drivers arms?  The system would have to include a safeguard to ensure the arms don't extend beyond the cockpit.

In summary, head protection in open cockpits is clearly an area that needs improvement.  Why not give the driver every chance of survival when they need it the most?

For more on F1 safety, please read my blog "Improving Safety in Formula One".

http://formulaonepodcast.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/improving-safety-in-formula-one.html?m=1

(UPDATE: July 2016)

F1, via Charlie Whiting, has reviewed this technology and has so far deemed it to be "impractical".  He has said; "I cannot see how you can deploy it in the right amount of time".

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/whiting-active-cockpit-safety-system-impractical-803358/

Thanks for reading, please leave your comments.

Pep, F1 Podcast.

F1 Country Guide - New Zealand

New Zealand is a country with a proud history of Grand Prix racing and famous F1 racing names ... McLaren, Hulme, Amon.  This blog will explore New Zealand's Grand Prix racing past and also what it offers F1 fans today.

The Past

Drivers

In total, 8 New Zealand drivers have contested the Formula One World Championship.  Let's look at some ...

McLaren of course is the mega successful F1 team was started by New Zealander Bruce McLaren.  Bruce himself won 4 Formula 1 Grand Prix, his first win in 1959 made him the youngest ever driver to win a championship Grand Prix at the time.  Bruce and was also very successful in other forms of motorsport, particularly Can-Am. 

Denny Hulme was the most successful New Zealand F1 driver ever with 8 wins and also winning the F1 World Championship in 1967.

Chris Amon; at 19 years old was the youngest ever driver to start in a championship Grand Prix at the time.  Chris he is often quoted as the most talented driver never to win an F1 championship race.  He won non-championship races, drove for Ferrari and was also an F1 team owner. 

Mike Thackwell; at 19 years old qualified on pole for the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix.  The youngest qualifier ever, a record that would stand for 29 years.

The New Zealand Grand Prix

The New Zealand Grand Prix began in 1950 and was held mainly at Pukekohe Park Raceway and the Ardmore Circuit.  It had many famous winners such as Sir Stirling Moss 3 times (1956, 1959, 1962), Sir Jack Brabham 3 times (1958, 1960, 1961), Graham Hill twice (1965 and 1966), Chris Amon twice (1968 and 1969), Bruce McLaren, John Surtees and Sir Jackie Stewart. 

Of course the New Zealand Grand Prix was also part of the Tasman Series which ran between 1964 and 1975.  So there were other Tasman races held in New Zealand at this time at circuits in Levin, Wigram and Teretonga.

Today

Activities for F1 fans

If you are visiting New Zealand, these are the options for F1 fans:

• Various motorsport circuits, events and experiences (see below).
• Take a ride in the Orange Arrows F1 3 seater car.
• The Bruce McLaren Trust and Museum (located at the site of the old McLaren Service Station).
• Visit Bruce McLaren's childhood home; 8 Upland Road Remeura.  His grave is at Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden, Auckland.
• The National Motorsport Museum, Otago which has 2 F1 cars on display.
• Maybe buy a supercar (?): The Hulme Supercar.
• Several go-karting locations.
• Sim racing (see below).

Shopping

• Various motoring bookstores (see below).

Thanks for reading.  Please leave your comments.

Pep, F1 Podcast



Links:

New Zealand Grand Prix:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Grand_Prix
Tasman Series:  http://tasmanrevival.com/history-of-the-tasman-series/
New Zealand F1 drivers:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One_drivers_from_New_Zealand

Circuits:

Pukekohe Park Raceway (Pukekohe):  http:/ /www.countiesracing.co.nz/motor-racing/
Highlands Motorsport Park (Otago):  http://www.highlands.co.nz/
Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park (Taupo):  http://www.brucemclarenmotorsportpark.com/
Hampton Downs (Waikato):  http://www.hamptondowns.com/
Ruapuna (Christchurch):  http://www.canterburycarclub.co.nz/ 
Teretonga (Invercargill):  http://www.teretonga.org.nz/

F1 3 seater ride:  http://formula1ridesnz.co.nz/
Bruce McLaren Trust and Museum (Remuera, Auckland):  http://www.bruce-mclaren.com
Bruce McLaren grave:  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12763417
National Motorsport Museum:  http://www.highlands.co.nz/museum/
Hulme Supercars:  http://www.hulmesupercars.com/

SIM racing:

Virtual Racing Centre (Auckland): http://www.vrracing.co.nz/
Hyper Simulator (Auckland and Wellington):  http://www.hyperstimulator.co.nz/

Motorsport books:

DML Motorbooks (South Canterbuy):  http://www.manuals.co.nz/
Pace Publications (Auckland):  http://www.pace.net.nz/
FAZAZZ (Christchurch):  http://www.fazazz.co.nz/
Octane Books (Auckland):  http://octanebooks.co.nz/







 

Jochen Rindt - An Open Letter to F1 (1969)

The following is a letter penned in 1969 by F1 driver Jochen Rindt.

It was an open letter, sent to all of the major motorsport publications of the day.  It has some very interesting observations about wings on Grand Prix cars and the turbulent effect they cause any cars following.  It is a particularly poignant letter given the circumstances of Rindt's death just one year later.

And the letter also relates strongly with the debate that is still raging about wings ... 47 years later.

This is an open letter to all people who are, interested in Formula 1 racing.  I want to demonstrate a few points about the aerofoils which at the moment are used on most of the F1 cars, in order to convince the so-called experts that they should be banned.

Basically I have two reasons why I am against them:

1. Wings have nothing to do with a motor car. They are completely out of place and will never be used on a road-going production car. Please note, I mean wings and not spoilers which are incorporated into the bodywork. You can say they bring colour to racing, and I cannot argue against that; but after all F1 racing is meant to be a serious business and not a hot rod show.

2. Wings are dangerous, first to the driver, secondly to the spectators.

When wings were first introduced to F1 racing at Spa last year they were tiny spoilers at the front and back of the Ferraris and Brabhams. They had very little effect except at high speed when they were working as a sort of stabiliser. This was a very good effect and nobody thought any more about it until Lotus arrived for the French GP at Rouen a month later with the first proper wing. Suddenly everybody got the message about what could be done with the help of the air; but unfortunately nobody directly concerned gave much thought to what could happen if the wings went wrong, and what effect they would have on racing.

First of all, it is very difficult to design a wing which is going to stand up to all the stresses, because who knows how big the forces are. If you make the wing stronger, it is going to be heavier and therefore produce bigger forces on the construction; you make it lighter and it all goes the opposite way. This is not my wisdom, it all comes from one of the most successful racing car designers. Nevertheless I am sure that after some time - and a few more accidents because of wing failure - this problem could be solved.

Now some personal experience gained by racing with the wing:

The wing obviously works via the airflow over it, and this situation changes rapidly if you happen to follow another competitor; he has the full use of the wing and you yourself have to put up with the turbulence created by his car. This could mean that the man in front is actually going slower than you, but you cannot pass him because after getting near to him, your wings stop working and you cannot go so quickly. This fact spoils racing to quite a large extent. On the other hand the turbulence can be so great that your car starts behaving very strangely and completely unpredictably.

This, I think, explains Oliver's accident at Rouen last year, and I personally have been in similar trouble very often, but luckily I have always managed so far. You will understand that these two facts stop close racing, which is one of the most exciting things to watch. Therefore it is in the interest of the spectators and the drivers to ban wings.

Let us have a look at the wing if something goes wrong with it. And they do go wrong quite often, but so far nobody has been severely hurt. My accident in the Spanish GP has been the biggest one so far and, through a lot of luck and the safety precautions taken by the Spanish organisers, nothing serious happened. Naturally I will always be grateful to the Automobile Club of Barcelona for lining the circuit with double guardrails and for providing such efficient marshals.

To explain the reason for my accident, I was happily driving round the fastest bend on the track when my wing broke and changed its downthrust into reverse. The back end of my car started flying, and I nearly flew over the double guardrail on the left side of the track. Fortunately I was flying about 10 inches too low and got bounced back into the road. I have got a picture to prove it.  Can you imagine what would have happened if the car had flown into the crowd? By next year we will probably have wings big enough to do so, and all the owners of the circuits will have to think about new crowd protection. You can also get lift instead of down-pressure if you spin the car at high enough speed and start going backwards.

Altogether I have come to the conclusion that wings are very dangerous, and should therefore be banned.

JOCHEN RINDT.

Begnins, SWITZERLAND.