Should f1 run coupes?

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Originally Posted by henners88

Something else to look at would be the behaviour of water on the canopies when travelling at low speed behind a safety car as we have seen lately that drivers have difficulty seeing as it is. Would races be run in the wet if cars were unable to use viable windscreen wipers? Canopies that rely on water running off at speed would fail if we had another race like Canada where cars are travelling at 50mph for several laps IMO. I hope this is addressed as I would hate to see a race red flagged at every incident in the wet that needed a safety car.

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Rain-X: Outsmart the Elements | Wiper Blades, Windshield Treatments, Weather Bug and Tar repellent products for your car, Weatherbeater, Latitude, weather, glass, vehicle, visibility

Works at 35 on my car and bike helmet, inside and out. Rain isn't the problem IMHO, the distortion caused by such a heavily contoured windscreen would be. Sure, they could use flat 'glass or a flatter profile, but the aerodynamicists would scream. Offshore powerboats have used open top F5 and F16 canopies for years now, but that is a huge canopy compared to what would be necessary for an F1 car, and even with an open top, I can tell you from personal experience they are HOT! wearing a full helmet and firesuit in a boat. it would be ungodly in a small F1 chassis.

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Originally Posted by nigelred5

Rain-X: Outsmart the Elements | Wiper Blades, Windshield Treatments, Weather Bug and Tar repellent products for your car, Weatherbeater, Latitude, weather, glass, vehicle, visibility

Works at 35 on my car and bike helmet, inside and out. Rain isn't the problem IMHO, the distortion caused by such a heavily contoured windscreen would be. Sure, they could use flat 'glass or a flatter profile, but the aerodynamicists would scream. Offshore powerboats have used open top F5 and F16 canopies for years now, but that is a huge canopy compared to what would be necessary for an F1 car, and even with an open top, I can tell you from personal experience they are HOT! wearing a full helmet and firesuit in a boat. it would be ungodly in a small F1 chassis.

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Running air conditioning wouldn't be too hard.

Again, this is something which couldn't simply be implemented in 12 months or even 2 years.

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Originally Posted by henners88

It would certainly add extra weight and slow the cars down I suppose. The FIA would support that.

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Would it? I would imagine that the current cars are ballasted.

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Originally Posted by Dylan H

Ever worn a helmet in the rain ioan? The visor gets covered in water quickly and glare IS a problem, a very serious one.

Bikers and F1 drivers can wipe away the rain, in fact most riding gloves have a leather strip on the index finger to allow just that. F1 drivers also get the usual tear-offs too.

A canopy would need a wiper system in the rain or would quickly become unusable.

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Do they have wipers on their helmet visors? No they don't.
Did you hear drivers ask for wipers on their helmet visors? I didn't.
So why would an even more streamlined canopy need a wiper?

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Originally Posted by Mia 01

Theres been moore fatal accidents i the Le Mans racing. I don´t know what you are talking about.

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Did you check the number of cars and drivers taking part in Le Mans?

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Originally Posted by Daniel

Running air conditioning wouldn't be too hard.

Again, this is something which couldn't simply be implemented in 12 months or even 2 years.

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They sure need time for it but it can be done properly, no question about it.
On top of it it is time for F1 to move on and catch up with the times.

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Originally Posted by ioan

Do they have wipers on their helmet visors? No they don't.
Did you hear drivers ask for wipers on their helmet visors? I didn't.
So why would an even more streamlined canopy need a wiper?

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I'll explain this in simple terms.

In an open cockpit the helmet visor gets wet if it rains.

With a helmet visor, one can use your own finger to wipe away excess water. This negates the need for a wiper system to be installed on helmets. I'm sure this isn't that difficult a concept to understand. Hands really are quite versatile things I find.

It is rather more difficult to use ones hand to clean the canopy whilst driving a single seater vehicle at high speeds. Hence why a canopy will need a wiper system.

You ought to remember that given diffusers and whatnot, racecars throw up an incredible amount of spray, meaning that racecars are subjected to a lot more waterspray than conventional roadcars are. A highly curved streamlined canopy might reduce the amount of water that sticks to it but not all, and then it would be extremely vulnerable to glare.

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Originally Posted by henners88

I was thinking along the lines of cars having KERS, and an air conditioning system (not light) not to mention the car being wider to accomodate a flat windscreen that will give the driver a better view when cornering.

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It sure isn't light however they do not need an AC as big as the one in road cars given that they only need to cool about 1/5th or less of air volume compared to what you have in a road car.
And to be honest I believe that easiest is to properly isolate the cockpit from the engine compartment and use an even smaller AC.

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Originally Posted by Dylan H

I'll explain this in simple terms.

In an open cockpit the helmet visor gets wet if it rains.

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I wonder how did you figure that out! LOL

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Originally Posted by Dylan H

With a helmet visor, one can use your own finger to wipe away excess water. This negates the need for a wiper system to be installed on helmets. I'm sure this isn't that difficult a concept to understand. Hands really are quite versatile things I find.

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And how often did you see drivers wipe their visors with their hands during a wet race?! :\

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Originally Posted by Dylan H

It is rather more difficult to use ones hand to clean the canopy whilst driving a single seater vehicle at high speeds. Hence why a canopy will need a wiper system.

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No one suggested that this is needed, other than you.

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Originally Posted by Dylan H

You ought to remember that given diffusers and whatnot, racecars throw up an incredible amount of spray, meaning that racecars are subjected to a lot more waterspray than conventional roadcars are. A highly curved streamlined canopy might reduce the amount of water that sticks to it but then it would be extremely vulnerable to glare.

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The slower they go the less water is raised by the car in front, the faster they go the easier the water flows away from the canopy and visibility improves.
Looks like a non problem to me to be honest, in simple terms like yours. :p

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Originally Posted by ioan

And how often did you see drivers wipe their visors with their hands during a wet race?! :\

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Errr quite often...

Sorry but your 'arguments' merely suggest you don't have experience of using helmets.

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Originally Posted by ioan

No one suggested that this is needed, other than you.

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Thats right, only myself. Oh BTW isn't it odd that every closed cockpit all-weather racecar ever built has happened to have windscreen wipers? Must be for decoration since you deem them unnecessary.

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Originally Posted by ioan

The slower they go the less water is raised by the car in front, the faster they go the easier the water flows away from the canopy and visibility improves. Looks like a non problem to me to be honest, in simple terms like yours. :p

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Great in theory. In practice you might find that water doesn't instantly disappear at high speeds. Check onboard footage in heavy rain, it takes time for water to flow off glass even at high speeds.