Enclosed cockpits must be considered for Formula 1 cars if they can help protect a driver’s head according to Claire Williams, deputy team principal of the Williams F1 Team.
With the argument for cockpits having flared up once again following Jules Bianchi’s Japanese Grand Prix accident, F1 bosses have come under pressure to look at the concept again after recently shelving the idea because it would look ugly.
Williams though says the idea needs to be discussed internally in more depth to see whether it could have helped in this and future situations.
“It’s something we have to look at,” she is quoted as saying by the Associated Press. “If it can improve safety then of course it has to be on the agenda as a conversation to have. Enclosed cockpits aren’t easy technically for us to integrate into a Formula One car and of course they change the very nature of what a Formula One car looks like.
“We have to look at all the options available to us whether it’s an enclosed cockpit or not, but those conversations need to go on behind the scenes.”
The 38-year-old added that safety is more important than looks.
“We have to find ways to ensure our drivers are as protected as possible. The aesthetics of a Formula One car — yes they are important, they are the very fiber and DNA of Formula One and what cars look like is important — but safety has to be paramount.”
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