Formula 1 to become sportscars
May 2012
Charlie Whiting, the man whose sole job is pressing a button at the start of a race, has revealed that the FIA is set to make safety changes designed to turn Formula 1 cars into sportscars like those raced in the ALMS championship.
Plans are to cocoon the drivers inside a canopy so they are protected in the event of rampant wheels taking their heads off. In order to fit an appropriately sized canopy, the cars will need to be made much wider to accommodate. As an additional precaution, the exposed wheels will also be covered. Over the last few years, the governing body has been making teams adapt their cars for endurance racing by making them run engines and gearboxes for several months and the hope is that they will soon be durable enough to race at Le Mans. Whiting was quoted as saying “It’s inevitable really. With the cars now able to run for several races on one engine, a twenty-four hour race will be like child’s play in comparison. With the canopy and chassis idea, we should be able to infiltrate the world of sportscar racing and destroy them. No one would ever know.”
As well as improving safety, hopes are that these new proposals will also act as a cost-cutting measure as circuits will be able to stop producing those “Motor Racing is Dangerous” signs that are produced at great expense and put all over the spectator fencing.
