Formula One cars could feature closed cockpits to protect drivers heads from as early as 2014.
That is the opinion of McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe, who is involved with the Technical Working Group.
He says that after the near miss in yesterdays Belgian Grand Prix that saw Romain Grosjeans Lotus fly over the top of Fernando Alonsos cockpit, the introduction is inevitable.
There have been other near misses in recent years, including in Abu Dhabi last year when Michael Schumacher spun and was hit head on by Vitantonio Liuzzi and Felipe Massa suffering a fractured skill after being struck by a spring at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009.
Just six days before Massas accident, Henry Surtees was killed in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch after being struck on the head by a loose wheel.
In Indycar, Dan Wheldon was killed in Las Vegas last year with head injuries sustained in an accident, while Helio Castronevis was narrowly missed by flying debris during this years Indianapolis 500.
Le Mans Production cars are also gonig down the same road, where once all LMP1 cars were had open cockpits both Audi and Toyoya ran closed cockpit cars.
Written: Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:04:33
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