Following Jules Bianchi’s death after suffering a head injury when he crashed into a recovery truck during the Japanese GP in 2014 and Fernando Alonso’s monstrous crash with Esteban Gutierrez in the season opener in Australia, there have been renewed calls for improving safety in Formula One.
The sport recently tried out a head protection device (halo device) tested by Ferrari that protects the driver from frontal impact, during pre-season testing in Barcelona last month with mixed reactions to both the looks and usefulness of the concept.
However, former F1 driver David Coulthard, who was involved in a similar crash to that of Alonso when Martin Brundle hit the back of him and got launched at the same corner during the 1996 Australian GP, says there is no need for any kneejerk reaction to the crash.
During a teleconference, Coulthard who is an ambassador for Laureus said, “I think that Formula One has made incredible strides in the last 20-odd years to make the safety cell the safest place to be in a crash.
“I am all for continually improving safety. I don’t think there’s immediate reaction to that [Alonso’s] crash because it’s something that the run-off adequately dealt with.”
The former McLaren driver added, “I think the governing body continues to react well. We can’t sanitise life to the point where our children don’t trip and fall over, so I don’t see how we can do that with motor racing amongst adults.”
Some of the arguments against the halo device has been it goes against the traditional aspect of how a Grand Prix car has to look like and Coulthard weighed in on both sides of the debate.
“If it’s felt that that is something that would offer protection to our frontal impact of the driver’s head and sort of protect against injuries that sadly killed Senna and Jules Bianchi, then I find it very difficult to see how anyone could argue against that.
“But you know, there obviously is historical sort of acceptance of what a Grand Prix car is. It’s an open-wheel, open-top car. If you start closing the wheels and closing the top, then it becomes a sports car, as we traditionally know it.”
He added, “I think whenever there is something new implemented, there will always be, as there always is in life, varying opinions. But it’s the governing body that is there to try and sift through all that and do the right thing.”
On Lewis Hamilton who has been nominated for the Laureus Sportsman of the Year award, Coulthard said, “I think that Lewis has continued to show that he has all the qualities of an elite sportsman, certainly in motor racing, he’s delivered consistently since he first joined for McLaren in 2007 right through until today.
“He has been crashed, he’s been the man that you watch during qualifying to see what lap time he can deliver, and he races in a sort of Senna-esque way. So there’s no question that out of a quality field of drivers, he deserves that nomination.”
