FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[darwin dali]

yeah Denthul has it right. the drivers would HAVE to swap helmets as they have different helmet set ups with different visors on. from experience swapping visors on an arai takes some time as you need a screw driver so they wouldnt pit to just swap visors.

Changing helmet in-car would probably take a while, too. It'd make pit stops interesting, though. I wonder if Ferrari could design a flawed, automated helmet-changing system to cost Massa another championship...

That could ultimately open the door for FA's move to Ferrari - why?
Well, knowing Ferrari's fortitude in technical design, they'll come up with an automated helmet changing system that has a wardrobe malfunction and rips off FM's head

[7UpJordan]

Oh terrific, it's another "masterstoke" by Bernie just to suit us European TV viewers. Well done Bernie, sit down, have a scone, make yourself at Home!

[billindenver]

yeah Denthul has it right. the drivers would HAVE to swap helmets as they have different helmet set ups with different visors on. from experience swapping visors on an arai takes some time as you need a screw driver so they wouldnt pit to just swap visors.

Changing helmet in-car would probably take a while, too. It'd make pit stops interesting, though. I wonder if Ferrari could design a flawed, automated helmet-changing system to cost Massa another championship...

That could ultimately open the door for FA's move to Ferrari - why?
Well, knowing Ferrari's fortitude in technical design, they'll come up with an automated helmet changing system that has a wardrobe malfunction and rips off FM's head

LOL, very true!!

Our new helmet changing automated system is run by the same software as our pit lights of last year....we have complete confidence that it will gain us 4 seconds during the race. Oh hell, someone glue Massa's head back on please....sorry about that, it was an engineer on the pit wall mistake..he pushed the wrong button.

[FerrariFan63]

"We're going to have a unique starting time but we aren't going to tell you what it is."

This is the press release non-event of the year. Hardly seems worth publishing.

[bud]

F1 shouldnt have the requirements for in race helmet changes in my opinion as its a safety issue. those endurance races have driver swaps not helmet swaps so they are already suited and ready to swap over drivers. While in F1 there is the risk of taking off the helmet the hans and not putting it all back on correctly in the haste of a pit stop.

[Jensonb]

Running from daylight into nighttime is hardly unique. Le Mans does it with far more cars on the track, cars running their own lights (blinding for drivers mirrors) and several vastly different species of race cars occupying the same space. 12 hours of Sebring, 24 hours of Daytona also do it...not to mention half a million SCCA, NASA, PCA, club racers running 6 hour enduro races. I assure you if we in the amateur classes can manage it, Formula One will not have to much difficulty. It is hardly unique, certainly not dangerous, fairly easily done and would be an interesting race...I hope they do it.

The Le Mans 24 Hours is a sports car Endurance race. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is an F1 race and is based on distance, not time. I'm assuming he means unique on the F1 calendar.

[billindenver]

F1 shouldnt have the requirements for in race helmet changes in my opinion as its a safety issue. those endurance races have driver swaps not helmet swaps so they are already suited and ready to swap over drivers. While in F1 there is the risk of taking off the helmet the hans and not putting it all back on correctly in the haste of a pit stop.

Not really man. We don't change drivers the moment the sun falls from the sky...most run on a 2 hour driver cycle...so someone is in the car during daylight, sunset and full dark conditions and the 24 hour guys also have someone who runs dark, dawn and daylight. High output driving lights being used on courses that have very little of their own lighting causes even more driver confusion....I suspect that the F1 track will be properly lit from above so I imagine it could be done without any more risk than those long shadows at the end of Australia. I think F1 could pull it off.

[bud]

so you rekn the drivers would just wear a clear visor and put up with the sun until it goes down or do you think they would do helmet swaps?

[billindenver]

so you rekn the drivers would just wear a clear visor and put up with the sun until it goes down or do you think they would do helmet swaps?

I think they would have strips on the tops of their visors that they use as a sun shield when the sun is in their face. Lower your chin and block the sun...as is done already. Also, sunlight sensitive visors are certainly not new tech. My motocross goggles use that tech quite well, as do snowboarding goggles. Inside a car with a windshield that tech does not work well, but outside in an open wheel...I bet it would be the ticket.

[Rivelution]

so you rekn the drivers would just wear a clear visor and put up with the sun until it goes down or do you think they would do helmet swaps?

I think they would have strips on the tops of their visors that they use as a sun shield when the sun is in their face.

So basically tinted tear offs?

[billindenver]

so you rekn the drivers would just wear a clear visor and put up with the sun until it goes down or do you think they would do helmet swaps?

I think they would have strips on the tops of their visors that they use as a sun shield when the sun is in their face.

So basically tinted tear offs?

Actually, I had not thought of that, though it may work as well. I was thinking light sensitive visors that darken in sunlight and are clear in lack of it. I have goggles for MX racing that work that way and do a great job of filtering heavy sunlight but not being a nuisance when otherwise. Eyeglasses have had that tech for some time now as well. They have used it on motorcycle helmets but it was pricey...not like that is a problem in F1. In any event, I think if they went with a day into night race that F1 would find a visor that would work. I don't believe they would have to change helmets etc.

[Denthúl]

I don't think tinted tear-offs would work very well. What happens if a driver has to tear off all of the tinted ones before the daylight is gone? And what happens if they haven't torn off any of the tinted ones by the time the race ends up under artificial lighting? The only way to go would be a 'smart' visor.

[Rivelution]

so you rekn the drivers would just wear a clear visor and put up with the sun until it goes down or do you think they would do helmet swaps?

I think they would have strips on the tops of their visors that they use as a sun shield when the sun is in their face.

So basically tinted tear offs?

Actually, I had not thought of that, though it may work as well. I was thinking light sensitive visors that darken in sunlight and are clear in lack of it. I have goggles for MX racing that work that way and do a great job of filtering heavy sunlight but not being a nuisance when otherwise. Eyeglasses have had that tech for some time now as well. They have used it on motorcycle helmets but it was pricey...not like that is a problem in F1. In any event, I think if they went with a day into night race that F1 would find a visor that would work. I don't believe they would have to change helmets etc.

I dont think so either. Afterall this is F1 and changing helmets would take up a lot of time in the pits, but I can see them using transition visors like you said.

[Jensonb]

This all seems like a whole lot of effort for a pretty naff gimmick.

[billindenver]

This all seems like a whole lot of effort for a pretty naff gimmick.

You are probably right. Still, there are a LOT of club racers in the USA (60,000 in SCCA alone plus those who have quit racing but still follow it). I am only one of them, but I do have a warm spot in my heart for day into night transitions. Sure, it would be a gimmick in F1...but then gimmicks aren't necessarily a bad thing are they? The night race was certainly a gimmick but I kinda liked it. Anything that makes the show a bit more entertaining, or different...is a good thing. I think it would be very cool if F1 used visors in their helmets that used electronics to dim. Oh wait, put a heads up display inside their visor with telemetry and track positions! If it worked in Ironman the movie, surely we can do it in Formula one.