A closed cockpit, a HUD and possibly a missile targeting system for when you're in last place.

how about 3 turtle shells that rotate around the car, that you can launch at the risk of less protection

The protective halo just recently saved Hamilton at Monza when he crashed with Verstappen. Verstappens tire would have crushed Hamilton’s helmet had the halo not been there.

Many (myself included) disliked how they Halo looked, but we all started appreciating and loving it as soon as we saw how many fatal injuries it prevented. There are many pilots today who wouldn't be alive had it not been for the Halo, the most recent of them being Zhou. Look at how the Halo basically prevented his head from taking any serious injury after he flipped. Once he would have scraped his helmet (or even worse, his head) on the asphalt. I'll always support safety measures that keep our beloved pilots alive and well!

You didn't mention Vettel reported the aeroscreen made him dizzy because the vibration was distorting his view of the track. I think that is what killed the aeroscreen back in 2015/16

They don´t want to make the F1 cars into a sauna because they know raikkonen will win

The halo is absolutely amazing! Grojean would have gotten his head taken clean off by the barrier if not for it and Lewis in Monza would have been crushed. Saving so many lives, great addition to the cars

If Zhou's horrible crash in Silverstone 2022 to go by, Halo saved his life (literally), however we need to keep in mind that extraction should be easy and fast enough. In case of Zhou's accident on lap 1, it took almost 20 minutes to extract Zhou, we were lucky that there was no fire otherwise things could have turned horrible

Lol remember when the biggest thing we had to worry about was how a safety device looked on a race car?

I think it's awesome that the FIA and IndyCar share their data with each other. It's good for motor racing, it's good for the drivers, it's good for the teams.

Closed cockpits came into WEC for the LMP1 cars over 10 years ago. They've had a great safety record so far, and the cars look awesome.

For cooling, little holes arranged on the sides of the cockpits along with a mesh screen to protect from any debris would, in my opinion, seem like a viable option.

To be honest, I started to follow F1 in 2019 so I never saw Cars without the Halo. And to be honest I think it looks kinda cool.

That fighter jet canopy took that force like a boss.

I was a huge fan of the cockpit design when that was in discussion during the Massa incident. Hadn't considered at all about the cooling for the driver (let alone watched Indycar to know they had it). Thanks for the breakdown, I'm glad they at least have the halos.

i think its great to see the halo and closed cockpit design being evolved side by side and sharing findings

"The fighter jet canopy worked really well." "Yep." "Let's do something else than the fighter jet canopy." "Oh... Ok."

To be honest, I'd love to see a fighterjet-style canopy for F1 cars, but I'm also fine with the halo.

When Grosjean hit the rail in Bahrain 2020, the normal gap drivers climb out of was blocked by a rail. He had to climb out of left side gap between the chassis and halo to get out. If there had been a wind screen in place, I imagine that he would’ve been stuck. :/

I remember watching F1 with my dad from a young age and watching Massa get hit by the spring live that weekend and I'm not sure the halo would have helped. It seemed to come from head on. Regardless it's good that F1 is looking to improve safety.

"Too ugly." Ah yes, because F1 cars are all about the looks, the functionalities aren't important

You forgot to mention the introduction of windshield wipers to wipe off the bugs. Also the next move is obvious, EJECTER SEATS! 😂😂

I think that closed cockpit designs could absolutely work if they implemented something like a NACA duct that could maybe be a passthrough airflow piece that could eventually be exhausted out the back of the car? It could be implemented as a downforce device potentially as well, allowing the new safety device to be a catalyst for more innovative ways to improve car design.

Can't lie a fighter jet canopy would look 🥶

Remember the days when we thought the halo was dumb, oh how wrong we were Wow, I had no clue how much attention this would get so I should clarify, I was referring to me and others who didn’t see the practicality or need for the halo. It seemed ugly and like it would get in the way of the drivers view. However I totally understand if you liked it originally or if you still don’t like it.

I always wondered about this since I was a kid, but mostly thinking about aerodynamics. It made no sense to me how every single square centimeter of the vehicle takes air friction into consideration but the cockpit basically throws it all out of the window.

The first thing I thought about with a closed cockpit style was the heat. Then I realized how difficult it could be to get out of the car. Part of why Grosjean survived his crash was because of how quickly they could get him out of the car and fire. My other thought with the Indy car style is that if anything cracks or scratches the window and impairs vision the team wouldn't be able to repair that quickly during the race. I love the halo, and I also prefer the look of it over the open cockpit style of driving. But I'm not fully sold on the windshield and definitely would not advocate for a closed cockpit.

One reason why closed canopies are resisted is tradition. The idea of open wheel racing. Racing in the wet is completely different in a closed cockpit as well. Halo is the best compromise between greatly increasing safety and preserving the spririt of F1 (in my opinion). The design will continue to improve and evolve. the '22 cars look just awesome and the racing is better than in 5 years. A New Era indeed.

5:10 "Feeling like you're in a sauna" Nascar: First time?

"So which emoji should we add in this video?" "YES."

As someone who is not an F1/Indy car fan…..I just can’t understand why the Halo was taken over a cockpit like design. You’re losing visibility to gain the protection from large objects, and large objects only. If the concern here is fires and evacuation, go ask NASCAR, they have been doing it for decades. A cockpit provides protection from all objects, weather, fire with the benefit of having full visibility. Air flow was a non-issue to start, it shouldn’t have taken a rocket science to figure out to put rams/scoops on it. The only downside to a cockpit is weight and drag, but we’re taking a loss of a few MPH’s. If everyone is taking that loss, than it’s still an even playing field. Even then, one could argue that it’s actually more aerodynamic if designed right.

They would look sicker with the canopy

2022 Halo looks really awesome and well integrated. I don't mind halo, aeroscreen or jet-style. As I read once about the halo: "The halo is not ugly, ugly is to watch how your favourite driver dies in his car".

The tire bouncing off the Fighter jet canopy was one of the coolest things 🤯🤯

I love the look of the halo and I think they integrated it well

what I LOVE about this whole situation... F1 and IndyCar are BOTH great!! I truly do not understand any debate as to which one is "better". They are both working together to innovate and improve the sport. That's what pure racing should be

F1 engineers: “Yeah we can make tiny spaceships” Also F1 engineers: “No an A/C inside the cockpit just isn’t possible”

That's very nice of you to include imperial and metric untis. Many KZfaqrs should learn from you.

Technically a spring can still hit and injure a pilot despite the halo, so maybe windscreens like in Indycar are F1 future

a closed cockpit should be no problem if you ask me. after all, tons of LM cars have closed cockpits and many of them are on par if not faster then an F1 car, and cooling doesn't seem to have been a problem for them for several decades now.

Imagine having someone's life changed the following year because something was "too ugly." Safety shouldn't matter about how good or bad it looks, I wish they recognized that from the start.

I thought the halo looked bad in the 2018 regs but looked like it was meant to come in with the 2019 regs with wider wings

I too wondered the same even before the introduction of the halo, and this video is an excellent answer overall. Good job!!

even though im not a big racing fan, your videos are very interesting and engaging. keep up the great work :)

It's worth mentioning: Another aspect of the Aeroscreen is visibility. Drivers (in indycar at least) had tear-off plastic layers on their visors so that when stuff like track rubber and bug splatter clouded their vision, they could tear off a layer and see again. Now that the cars have one giant windshield, the shields themselves have tear-offs that are pulled off during every pit stop or so. It's either that or having a guy with a rag clean it off during the stop. Indycar's investigation of a cockpit protection structure began after Dan Wheldon's death in 2011. They experimented with simpler shields such as the fighter jet ones that are shown being tested by the FIA.

Fun fact: brigth side is going to steal this video like how they stole the why f1 cars dont have airbags f101

*fire is raging after a crash* "Thank god this visor only takes 15 minutes to remove"

It’s always sad when safety comes second after something that could’ve been prevented happens

When i first thought of a closed cockpit on a F1 car,i thought “oh better aerodynamics” but then i thought “oh wait fires”

It’s incredible that there was a time when cockpit safety revolved around not wearing a seat belt so you could get thrown clear in the event of a crash, ah the good old days 😳

step by step we will get there back in the days cars didn't have roof let alone transparent substance in them, same as small aircrafts now we have fighter jets and cars concepts that don't even have glass as windshield "screens and cameras" so the answer is yes

I would think that a cockpit like the jet one would improve aerodynamics, and allow the designers to take air from wherever they need to create more aerodynamic vehicles.

I remember watching a documentary about the Hans device 15 some years ago. The experts were asked if motorsports are now safe, and they said 'drivers are much safer now than before the Hans device, but there will always be something to improve on. There will be something else of concern in the future.' I foolishly didn't believe them at the time, but I guess they were right.

Grosjean was saying it was very hot in the car when he tested in indycar a few days ago

Its amazing how people were more concerned about a safety device being ugly vs. saving lives.

I only started paying attention after the introduction of the halo, so for me it has always been normal and watching older footage gives me a "those savages" impression lol.

@5:52 "The screen can also be fitted or removed in 15 minutes..." Seems a bit slow?

POV: you know the answer.. But still going through comments to find something funny. Damn.. 1 freaking K!!!!

A proper cockpit would be the coolest option tbh

Sheet of the polcycarbonate between the existing halo, not going all the way to the bottom to allow airflow but still blocking majority of small debris now especially because most air would be directed above the opening

It will be good for closed cockpit but there is always a risk for drivers to stuck in there amd harder to escape

Grojeon incident should answer the question

I think it would be fun to have either the aeroscreen or canopy. But let the teams design their own and their own driver cooling systems with some testing by FIA for approval to ensure safety and air flow needs are met. I want to see how teams use it for aerodynamics.

The full canopy would be the safest design. Fighter jets use explosives to remove the canopy in emergencies. I know in a fighter jet the only thing that makes it bearable when the canopy is closed is air conditioning. Not sure if they could figure out a way to air condition the cockpit properly and not add too much weight to the race car.

*Protective halo added into race cars* People: "it looks soo dumb lmfaoo.. " *Protective halo removed* Racer: dies* People: surprised Pikachu face*

F1: the windscreen makes it too hot for the driver. They won’t get air NASCAR: hold my beer

I would imagine there must be a balance between driver comfort and safety. These drivers do have to sit in the same spot for a few hours for the duration of the race. At first I didn’t care for the halo design but I’ve come around a bit. It was just different and now it seems more normal to see it so many people just like me needed time to let it grow on them. We’ll see what the future holds I guess but I just hope whatever that is it doesn’t diminish the beauty of these cars.

I hope the screen, with halo like supports, can be implemented. A halo only protection device, would only help in a Massa/ Barrichello type incident, if it hit the structure which protects very little surface area of the drivers head area.

15 mins for removal of the cockpit in and emergency seems a very long time. Surely you mean 15 seconds?

The indycar screen weirdly looks quite sleek from side on view, but very bulky and high from front on view?

Zhou in Silverstone this year was a good example

I love this CHANNEL!! 0 to Racing Knowledge and Data in 2.4 seconds. Keep up the good content 👍👌

I never liked the halo until it saved Leclerc, we are very lucky to have him alive and well!

Me: "thats actually a great question" Typical highish like comment: Edit: "OmG tHaNk YoU aLl FoR sO mAnY lIkEs. I hAve NeVeR hAd SuCh A pOpUlAr CoMmEnT !i!i!"

It would be more difficult for the drivers to get out of the vehicle in an emergency situation...case closed. I mean even if they had an emergency latch something could go wrong. Halo protects without obstructing the drivers exit, it actually assists it with being able to pull on it to get out.

I expect that full closed cockpits will eventually be the norm, for safety's sake and probably aerodynamics too. It make take a few decades or only a few years with technological advances in materials and design. The drawback to the Halo is that there are still areas that open for projectiles. The obvious one for full cockpits is the cockpit ventilation issue. One is more simpler to fix and that will be the direction the manufacturers go.

It’s interesting that no one has mentioned ejection seats. I feel like it would make Kimi more interested...

The windscreen works if the windscreen wasn’t on last year at Iowa we possibly would’ve lost reenus veekay

Why not wear water cooling suits in the car? Duct some air through a radiator and have an adjustable bypass valve for regulating temperature. For safety have a quick disconnect for the system on the suit and a redundant quick disconnect on the tubes or on the chassis. Not sure how much it would restrict driver movement though. I’ve never worn one before. Sounds like it would be cool though to have an adjustable thermostat to cool your entire body to a desired temperature.

Honestly a jet fight cockpit design with some reiforncment struts would be the better solution as for extracting the drive rig it like a fighter cockpit release system

5:16 *Räikkönen would absolutely love that!*

Imagine a fighter cockpit on a 2022 F1 car. That's be so cool

We could consider the drivers who would’ve been burned alive if they hadn’t veen extracted fast enough. Or the drivers who actually were burned alive.

short explanation: Open cockpits give the sport the benefit of driver identity, your favourite drivers helmet should be distinctive, and often the only way to tell two team cars apart, it also offers a perception (and reality) of danger, one of the key draws to the sport.

From my understanding Ayrton Senna would literally have walked away from his accident if he had the Indy car protection, as a piece of the suspension penetrated his helmet. I can't believe this is taking so long.

Me in 2017: "Why would putting that ugly, inconvenient halo piece of crap even be considered? FIA is full of it." Me in 2021: "Honestly, what sort of mentally impaired person would think the halo is not the best ever FIA idea in history?"

Anyone got recommended this after Lewis and verstappens crash yesterday ?

I honestly only wanted the F1 to have those closed, jet-like cockpits, is because they would make more sense in aerodynamics and most importantly: they look cool af

I've been drawing open wheel cars with fighter jet bubble canopies since I was 13 or 14 (late 80's) but fire and emergency egress has always been the real world reason fully enclosed cockpits aren't practical in such cars. I think the halo is a very good compromise in terms of head safety...think back to the early Lotus days and how far we've come in driver safety. It's amazing.

Really interesting video, personally I don't mind either way. If it improves driver safety then go with whatever the best choice is so we can avoid having another tragedy. Glad to see IndyCar and F1 are collaborating on this.

Some NHRA drivers use canopies on their 300+ mph top fuel dragsters. They have no issues with extraction by the driver or safety crew. They can do the heat because they aren't driving for 6 hours nonstop. Usually 20-30 minutes at a time, I think.

"ugly" is a moot term when it comes to saving a pilot's life.

I remember when Barichello wasn’t satisfied with HANS and it pretty much saved him right away.

Being a racer, an aerospace engineer, and a member of the Indy Motor Speedway Track Rescue Team, I've always been interested in this topic. Both F1 and IndyCar had the additional challenge of developing a solution that was relatively "bolt-on". A fresh new chassis design will allow for more comprehensive and elegant designs. My problem with the F1 solution is that if offers minimal protection from small debris and presents a visibility issue. Closed cockpits in motorsports is nothing new, and many of the challenges that open-wheeled series often argue over have long since been solved by other forms of racing. Even the NHRA has been using bubble canopies for years and they've been proven successful after some horrendous crashes. A true aerospace-grade bubble canopy doesn't need a halo behind it for strength, and the issue of driver egress can be addressed through simple design solutions not unlike what the military uses. In fact, a removeable bubble canopy would be better for driver removal than the fixed halo system. I've been up close and personal with the IndyCar design, and I hope I never have to get a driver out of one of those in a fire. A quick release system can be developed in the future and would greatly enhance driver egress and extraction. I've long been a proponent of a bubble canopy and I expect I will continue to be given the alternatives presented so far.

Here after Zhou was saved by the Halo

How bout keep the halo, half the vertical structure and place two on both sides and add a thick windshield plate between them. Gives better forward visibility, adds protection from small debris, allows air to flow in, deflects water during rain, is not in the way of the driver when existing the vehicle and can maybe also used as a HUD to improve racing safety.

I think I worked out there could have been 5 deaths or injuries without the halo in 2020 Edit: Sainz - Mugello Stroll - Mugello Giovinazzi - Mugello Grosjean - Bahrain Russell - Spa Leclerc - Monza Latifi - Mugello

Me: "Why don't I just sleep already?"

2:25 if yall have never seen an f-16 canopy deflect a frozen turkey at like 200mph i highly suggest yall watch it

Yeah, I also wondered sometimes why the Halo and not a closed cockpit. especially because you probably get better aerodynamic results with a cockpit, where the air flows above you on a smooth and curved surface. I can Talk from experience in Formula Student, that the opening where the driver is seated and the driver itself create a lot of Turbulence. With this your Rear Wing often doesn´t produce as much Downforce as you hoped it would.