WHY ARE FORMULA 1 CARS STILL SO SAFE TO DRIVE AND BARELY HAVE ANY FATALITIES?
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WHY ARE FORMULA 1 CARS STILL SO SAFE TO DRIVE AND BARELY HAVE ANY FATALITIES?
In our last article we carefully discussed the engineering wonder of a formula 1 car. We discussed what makes them so fast and what makes them so incredible. In this article we will discuss what makes these cars safe to drive and barely has any fatal injuries.
Now let’s dive into some of the factors that makes formula 1 so much more safer compared to 60s and 70s era.
FIELD MARSHALS
Field marshals are often the most important part of a racing track. From taking care of every aspect of the race to keeping an eye on debris from the cars a field marshal is always important for any race to occur. These marshals are always on the field and are trained in first aid and are enabled with fire extinguishers for any emergency use.
HELMETS
In the 2000s era the helmets were designed with strong carbon fibre which made the helmets withstand heavy impacts and proven themselves to be exceedingly fire resistant and that protects the driver in case of severe impacts
MONOCOQUE
Monocoque or often known as “Survival cell” is the central portion of an F1 car where the driver sits. This part is built with a 6mm plating of carbon fibre with a strong heavy layer of Kevlar in it. The monocoque is also fitted with fire suppression systems which protects the car and driver from any kind of fire.
HALO
Halo is the upper portion of an F1 car that looks like a triangular system. This halo is one of the most important features in the modern F1 car that prevents drivers from fatal injuries by distributing the force in different parts of the car instead of letting it come towards the chest of the driver in which case it could have been extremely fatal
THE HEADREST
The drivers driving an F1 car at its full speed can experience several G Force. G force in simple words can be said the amount of the pull of gravity of earth on a body. The number of G the force has it will multiply with the weight of your body to create that much of impact and force on your body. For a normal F1 driver in a F1 car the force of G stands around 6G which means 6 times the body mass. The modern-day headrest for the drivers inside the F1 car is designed with materials that can easily absorb the impact of the lethal G force.
Zhou Guanyu’s crash where the Halo came to use that protected his life in a could be fatal crash. Source- Sportsmax.tv
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton crash at Belgium Gp- Source- Insider.com
BANNING REFUELLING THE CAR
Often a Formula 1 race contains more than 50 to 60 laps and in earlier days the cars use to come for a pit stop where the team use to refuel the tanks of the cars to give some extra speed and advantage. The only problem was several times the refuelling procedure in an already burning hot car caused fires and accidents. In the 2010 season of formula 1 the refuelling was banned forever