Should f1 run coupes?

You know what, let ioan and Daniel have their closed cockpits, the rest of us will continue to follow open-wheel, open cockpit racing like always. Stupid thread which should be closed.

I haven't bothered reading all the threads, ut NO. F1 is open cockpit racing and LeMans is a diferent animal. Can we not do a pole on this?

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Originally Posted by Andrewmcm

This thread is hilarious.

Safety in racing is reactive, not pro-active. The HANS Device, high-sided cockpits, carbon fibre chassis, SAFER Barrier, close-faced helmets, wheel tethers and so on ad infinitum have all come about as there was a need for them to be designed in order to improve safety.

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Is that how it should be though?

Heaven forbid there should be some discussion on here....

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Originally Posted by schmenke

Perhaps you miss my point Daniel.

If a similar motorsport series already existed that mandated goats and boobs why would there be a need to change the formula of F1? Keep F1 as it is and if you fancy goats 'n boobs particpate in the other series.

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I quite fancy a go at the Goat and Boob Racing.

Spot on post though.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Heaven forbid there should be some discussion on here....

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There's been plenty, I suspect the goat and boobs sarcasm and flippency when other opinions and discussions don't go your way have put everyone off.

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Originally Posted by SGWilko

There's been plenty, I suspect the goat and boobs sarcasm and flippency when other opinions and discussions don't go your way have put everyone off.

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I've quite enjoyed how the conversation has gone where people have actually given proper reasons :)

Remove the goats they have sharpe horns that could hurt someone. :p :

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Is that how it should be though?

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Sadly yes. If there is no market to develop or mandate a product then no-one will buy/use it. Look at Dale Earnhardt's opinion of the HANS device, something that in all likelihood would have saved his life. Now it is used in every major series in the years following his untimely demise.

Accidents like those encountered by Massa and Surtees are freakish. In much the same way that those of Greg Moore and Zanardi were freakish. Martin Brundle commented on Sunday that F1 cars aren't designed to hit each other head on, as the probability of those accidents occurring are so low. I guess the point is that a racing car can't be designed with every type of crash in mind, as the resulting machine would not be particularly speedy.

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Originally Posted by Daniel

of course, but in those situations we're talking about cars which "only" have a roll cage and are built out of steel and not carbon fibre.

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So why aren't you arguing that all tin top series should switch to carbon fibre safety cells then? You're not being consistent. There hasn't been an F1 driver fatality for 17 years now, despite some pretty horrendous accidents. That suggests F1 takes safety seriously. I'm not saying other series don't, but it seems odd you're so concerned about F1 when there are other forms of racing, even other single series that have seen multiple fatalities in that time. If safety alone is your concern, it would appear more sensible to focus on series where safety improvements could have a greater return, that is to say series that have had more serious injuries that F1 in the same time frame, rather than worrying about theoretical F1 crashes and the injuries that may or may not occur and whether they may or may not have been avoided had the cars been closed wheel and/or closed cockpit.