F1 Safety: a Brief History of Innovation

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carl-turnley-crashToday’s F1 races are the product of a long and layered history — especially in terms of safety. From mechanical designs to racing regulations, the sport has greatly evolved since its inception in the early 1950s, and this has generally made it better for drivers, officials, and fans alike.

Here is a brief look at F1 safety’s rich past.

Early designs and ideas

F1, as a competitive sport, can be traced to 1950, the year of its inaugural season. Early F1 cars had features designed purely for speed in lieu of handling components or, disturbingly, necessary safety mechanics; they featured front engines and drum brakes and were first put on display at the 1950 Formula One World Championship, held at Silverstone in England.

Proper safety measures, such as roll bars, were not formally introduced until the early 1960s. Other emerging concepts included flag signals, fire prevention components, and interrupters for electronic systems.

The 90s and early 2000s

Flash forward to the 1990s, when many of the aforementioned safety measures continued to be tested, supplemented, and innovated as the need for such measures endured. The early 90s saw the introduction of larger rearview mirrors, mandatory detachable steering wheels, and new regulations pertaining to car width and cockpit size.

In the early 2000s, these changes were complemented with numerous shifts — some drastic — in racing rules and protocol. For instance, new time penalties were implemented to drivers triggering a false start, causing an accident or collision, or forcing another driver off the course — a move generally intended to cast a deeper negative connotation over such potentially dangerous activity.

Today

While today’s F1 cars are arguably more uncomfortable than their primitive predecessors, they are much safer — and typically not at the expense of speed or efficiency. Crashes remain a regular part of the sport, some of them overwhelming and spectacular from a viewer standpoint, but, fortunately, many of the worst crashes have not been as severe as they look. Consider a 2014 crash from driver Kimi Raikkonen, which looked potentially fatal on screen, but resulted in nothing more than a sore ankle. 

This phenomenon is a direct product of modern racing safety, which itself is a product of continuous, relentless campaigning to keep the sport as safe and stable as possible. Now, cars undergo a series of dynamic, static, and load tests — all while maintaining the best aspects of the past, such as advanced fire suppression systems.

 

Debunking halo device myths

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carl-turnley-halo

Formula One (F1) Racing has been going through some big changes lately including the changing of their historic logo to the addition of a safety guard on the cars above the driver’s heads known as “the halo”. This has led many to begin passing around some myths about the sport that couldn’t be further from the truth. So what are these myths and what is the truth? The myths are as follows:

  • The Halo Device Goes Against The Rich History Of F1 Racing
  • It Will Permanently Destroy The Aesthetics Of The F1 Cars
  • The Halo Device Could End Up Trapping Drivers After A Wreck

The Halo Device Goes Against The Rich History Of F1 Racing

F1 racing fans are proud of the rich history of the sport. F1 racing represents the very best in both driving and engineering that the world has to offer. This is one of the biggest reasons that they seem to be so against the change in the design of the car. Although there has always been an element of danger in the sport, there is nothing more important than the safety of the drivers. This has been reiterated year after year as additional safety measures are taken so that fans can enjoy the sport while minimizing the risk of injury to drivers.

It Will Permanently Destroy The Aesthetics Of The F1 Cars

This myth is based on the misconception that the halo will remain in its current form for eternity. In fact, F1 racing officials are actually very open to the idea of racing teams designing their own halo guard systems and presenting them to a committee for consideration. The only caveat to this is that all teams would have to be given access to the designs so as to not give one team an unfair advantage over another.

The Halo Device Could End Up Trapping Drivers After A Wreck

While this is a very valid concern, all tests indicate that the halo device would actually aid drivers in getting out of the car easier if it were to flip onto its roof during a race. This is because the halo will keep the nose of the vehicle up higher thus allowing more room for a driver to escape before emergency responders arrive.

4 Key Advancements in Automotive Safety

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The development of safety features within cars came quickly after they were first released to the public, with some of the earliest being brakes, seatbelts, and airbags. Now that those are standard features in every single car made today, developers are constantly searching for new ways to improve the safety of newer models, and keep drivers as safe as possible. Today, there have been a number of significant improvements in automotive safety, and below are some of the most innovative.

Automatic Headlights

Far too often do we see drivers on the road forgetting to turn on their headlights in darker conditions, which poses as a serious danger for everyone else around them. Professionals in the automotive industry successfully took out the middleman by inventing automatic headlights, which turn on as soon as the car is started.

While this has been around for some time now, adaptive headlights are a more recent technology that have improved nighttime safety even further. Depending on the road’s conditions, the weather, and general surroundings, adaptive headlights will either dim or brighten to aid the driver’s sight.

Collision Warning

Now that texting and driving has become a prevalent issue among drivers today, accidents are becoming much more common. The chances of an accident occurring once a driver’s eyes are taken off the road increase by a staggering 400%. Even if a cell phone is not involved, drivers can easily become distracted and begin swerving or fail to stop entirely. Thanks to the addition of collision warning systems in more cars today, this bad habit is being somewhat alleviated.

If a driver were to drift into another lane without noticing, approach a stopped object at a high speed, or be at the receiving end of another distracted driver, the car will alert them and give them the opportunity to adjust or prepare. Similarly, lane-keeping assistance systems were developed to prevent drifting. In this case, the car will automatically steer itself back into the correct lane should the driver begin to accidentally cruise into another.

Automatic Parking Assistance

This feature has been a true savior for those who dread parallel parking, or simply struggle with the act at all. Assisted parking programs literally park the car for you through computer processors tied to a sonar system on the front, back and sides, and a rearview camera. No steering from the driver is required.

Drowsiness Detection

 
A truly impressive technological advancement in car safety, drowsiness detection allows the car to sense any sign of unorthodox activity from the driver, including drifting, sudden accelerations and decelerations, and face monitoring through a dashcam. The car will loudly alert the driver to pull over and take a break; an amazing addition to cars today given the fact that there are roughly 100,000 car accidents per year due to drowsiness and fatigue.