EDGE CONFOR FOAM PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES Formula 1 cockpit safety has dramatically improved. Drivers’ shoulders and upper bodies used to be visible from the side of the car. Today, only part of their head can be seen. Today, F1 drivers’ heads are much better protected. The cockpit sides are much higher than before and Confor Foam lines the removable headrest and absorbs shocks. “It behaves like a soft foam when compressed slowly, but when it receives a heavy impact it behaves like a stiff foam with the ability to absorb and dissipate large amounts of energy.” Paul Habberfield, Trelleborg W ith tens of millions tv viewers for every Grand Prix, Formula One is one of the world’s most popular sports, making superstars of top racing drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. But F1 is very different now to how it was in its infancy. In those days, track conditions were far more dangerous and cars offered limited protection in crashes. Over its 72-year history, F1 has had a grim roll call of doomed names such as Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Ronnie Peterson and Gilles Villeneuve; all taken from us too soon. Even the drivers who sur- vived crashes, such as Niki Lauda, Philippe Streiff and Karl Wendlinger, suffered l ife-changing injuries. However, the tireless campaign- ing of people such as three-time world champion Jackie Stewart and neurosurgeon Professor Sid Watkins, helped F1 become much safer. While serious accidents do still happen, they are much rarer, thanks to improvements in crash barriers, deeper run-off areas and emergency personnel located trackside. Another safety milestone came after a series of tragic accidents in the mid-1990s. In particular, it was the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and triple world champion Ayrton Senna, during the same race week- end in Italy in 1994, which sent shock waves through the sport. An extensive review of driver safety commissioned by Max Mosley, then head of motor r acing’s governing body, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), found F1 drivers can experi- ence lateral g-force of up to 6 g when cornering and in addition, that a crash impact creates huge g-forces on a driver’s brain. This discovery led to the intro- duction of the Confor® Foam collar for Formula One cars’ headrests and cockpits. Confor Foam is an open-celled foam with temperature-dependent urethane technology at its core. It is breathable, does not irritate the skin and helps dissipate moisture READ MORE For more information about this topic, click here. Above: A driver retires from a race. The headrest is seen on top of the car. Left: Ayrton Senna, who died in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. 4 | 3.2022 T·TIME W W W.T R E L L E B O R G . C O M
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