Hearth was an excessive hazard within the first few a long time of Formulation 1, and drivers had been regularly trapped within the burning wreckage of their automobile. Hearth safety has thus been a key focus in security, and the race fits have modified over time to offer drivers a greater probability at survival.
Sir Jackie Stewart was instrumental in pushing for extra security measures in F1 after racing in among the collection’ most harmful years. The three-time world champion’s marketing campaign helped introduce a number of security options, together with full-face helmets and seatbelts for the drivers, in addition to serving to to develop a specialised medical unit which attend every race, security boundaries and larger run-off areas.
Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell 003 Ford
Picture by: Motorsport Photos
Drivers have to be snug of their race fits and never constrained by heavy and inflexible materials, in addition to making certain it supplies final safety in a possible accident. The swimsuit additionally must hold the motive force at a cushty temperature, ensuring that they don’t get too scorching too rapidly, as this will have an effect on their efficiency.
Every driver is required to put on a race swimsuit, underwear, gloves, boots and a helmet, which hasn’t modified a lot because the Nineteen Sixties. Nevertheless, driver clothes is now way more technologically superior and supplies drivers with a better stage of security.
The FIA is chargeable for imposing security measures and frequently evaluate the laws surrounding driver clothes. Each 8860 (helmets) and 8856 (clothes) laws had been reviewed and up to date the final couple of years and have been accepted once more for 2024.
Components of F1 drivers’ racewear
Race swimsuit
A race swimsuit – in any other case often known as overalls – is primarily chargeable for providing hearth safety to the drivers whereas additionally remaining light-weight and cozy. Overalls had been made obligatory by the FIA in 1963, and by 1975 they wanted to fulfill particular fire-resistant requirements.
The FIA have a set of laws for all driver clothes – often known as 8856-2018 – which specifies that the swimsuit needs to be multi functional piece and have shoulder handles, in case a driver must be extracted from their automobile.
Every race swimsuit additionally options an expiry date embroidered into the neck to make sure they provide most safety to a driver. The date was as soon as printed within the overalls, however this may very well be worn or burnt away so a extra fire-resistant choice was launched.
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Group
Picture by: Erik Junius
The know-how of overalls has come a great distance because the early Nineteen Sixties and now every race swimsuit is fabricated from a light-weight and breathable materials that’s coated with fire-resistant Nomex – a flame-resistant fibre. They’re all examined to ensure that they’ll stand up to warmth as much as 600-800 levels for over 11 seconds, which additionally applies to the fits’ zips and stretch panels to verify drivers are protected against hearth.
Every set of overalls comes with close-fitting wrists and ankles, in addition to a excessive collar and a flap protecting the complete zip, to maintain flames away from the motive force. A race swimsuit is tailored to every driver, with most preferring one thing shut becoming, nevertheless, drivers like Jacques Villeneuve most well-liked a baggier swimsuit as a result of he discovered it extra snug.
The swimsuit options stretch panels or an extended again to make sure the motive force is snug when sat in a automobile, with the entrance often shorter to forestall it pulling when underneath a seat belt. The overalls are additionally fabricated from a lighter materials to assist the drivers transfer simply, in addition to being breathable to permit physique warmth and extra sweat to flee, making a driver much less vulnerable to warmth exhaustion.
A swimsuit now weighs round 750g which is a stark distinction from the older fits which used to weigh round 2kg. Overalls are now not embroidered with patches to assist with the burden and motion, with sponsors now printed on the fire-resistant outer layer.
Helmet
A helmet is without doubt one of the most vital security measures in Formulation 1 and was made obligatory in 1952. There have been continuous updates to helmet know-how together with to the powerful outer shell and the updates to the impression absorbent insides.
Within the early days of the championship drivers solely wore material caps and goggles, which did little to guard drivers, earlier than cork helmets had been then launched. Helmets have come a great distance, with the invention of Nomex, the addition of visors and ultimately full-face helmets to extend the safety of a driver.
Helmets include a carbon fibre outer shell with a foam liner and fireproof lining, that are stringently examined in opposition to impression resistance and hearth, to make sure they supply most safety to drivers. The FIA regulates helmet security underneath the 8860-2018 guidelines which have additionally impacted different race classes that are managed by the governing physique.
Helmet of Lando Norris, McLaren
Picture by: Lando Norris
A key security change made to the 2018 laws was variations to the eye-port dimension and visor overlap. The brand new helmet adjustments got here into power following an accident with Felipe Massa in 2009, when a spring got here free from the again of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn automobile and hit the entrance of the Ferrari driver’s helmet. Though the helmet took a lot of the impression, Massa was knocked unconscious and wanted surgical procedure to suit a steel plate into his cranium.
The FIA then launched a Zylon strip to assist reinforce the overlap between the visor and helmet, adopted by new guidelines to make the visor opening smaller and reinforce the world across the eye-port.
Helmets beforehand featured a tube going into the helmet in the course of the Nineteen Seventies and 80s that was connected to a medicated gasoline provide, to assist a driver breath in the event that they had been trapped in a hearth. With adjustments being made to security, these tubes had been now not fitted into the automobile or had been required as a part of the laws.
Gloves
Gloves present some key security options, together with hearth safety and biometric capabilities. Every glove is constituted of the fire-resistant Nomex materials and supplies drivers with tactile suggestions from the silicone grips on the steering wheel.
Biometric gloves had been first launched in 2018, concurrently the Halo function on the automobile. The protection function displays the motive force’s situation following a crash. Every glove is fitted with a 3mm thick sensor which transmits information on a driver’s pulse and blood oxygen ranges again to their groups.
The biometric information additionally provides the medical group details about the motive force’s situation if they should rapidly extract them from the automobile following an accident. For instance, the restoration group would possibly select to bypass some restoration procedures to get a driver free extra rapidly to have the ability to stabilise their respiration or coronary heart price.
Gloves with elevated hearth safety had been launched in 2021 following Romain Grosjean’s crash on the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. The Haas driver went by the barrier and ended up spending 29 seconds inside a fireball earlier than managing to flee with extreme burns to his palms however was largely unscathed, due to the security units on his automobile and swimsuit.
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Group Kick Sauber, places on his crash helmet and gloves forward of FP1
Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photos
Following the accident, the FIA started taking a look at methods to enhance security and started trialling gloves that may give extra hearth safety in an identical incident. Improved gloves had been trialled on the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, which allowed an additional 1.5 seconds of fireside resistance.
Boots
Boots should additionally supply a level of fireside security, nevertheless, that is considerably compromised to make sure that the drivers have as a lot suggestions from the pedals as doable. In more moderen years, the boots have turn into extra of a sock fashion with a skinny rubber sole, as an alternative of the older leather-based or suede fashion.
The boots of Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Group
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Photos
The boots have a flat sole to maximise really feel by the pedals and, in moist situations, you’ll usually see drivers having the soles of their sneakers dried earlier than entering into the automobile to maximise grip.
Underwear
Beneath the race swimsuit, a driver can be carrying a fireproof underwear layer which should even be compliant to the FIA laws and is fabricated from Nomex. They’re now fabricated from a breathable, moisture-wicking materials, to maintain drivers snug in excessive warmth.
Every underwear layer consists of an extended sleeve high, bottoms – which look just like lengthy johns – and socks, which overlap one another so as to add a further layer of fireside safety. Drivers may even put on a balaclava over their head, which provides safety to components of their faces that may be uncovered by their helmets.
Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Group, places on his balaclava within the group’s storage
Picture by: Andrew Hone / Motorsport Photos
Beforehand drivers opted to put on a balaclava with two eye holes however in more moderen years for security, however now a single eye gap is extra most well-liked. The added layer of safety will usually cowl their noses and mouths, with a gap stitched into every balaclava for a consuming tube which permits a driver to remain hydrated throughout a race.
HANS
The Head and Neck Help (HANS) system was made obligatory in 2003 and is the ultimate factor of a driver’s race gear. The system limits the motion of a driver’s head and neck contained in the automobile to assist stop damage in the event that they crash.
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari helmet and HANS system
Picture by: Sutton Photos
The HANS connects to the helmet and is secured by the seatbelts, which helps anchor it onto the carbon fibre collar, which prevents hyperextending – which is the main reason behind loss of life in racing and is the results of a basal cranium fracture. Roland Ratzenberger suffered a deadly cranium fracture at Imola in 1994, which was a consequence of simply carrying a security harness with an unrestrained head.
With no HANS system, the harness pulled shoulders again, forcing a driver’s neck to be stretched. This may create stress between the cranium, neck and shoulders with accidents exacerbated by the helmet, which provides further weight to the top.
These days if a driver is in a frontal collision, then the HANS system will scale back the ahead movement of a driver’s head and scale back the pressure on their neck, fully eliminating the danger of hyperextending.
