I'm not sure how many of you follow NHRA Top Fuel Racing. Antron Brown , team mate of Tony Schumacher, grenaded a motor last week and went for a wild ride. He walked (OK, kind of staggered waving his hands) away from it thank goodness. the interesting part is that he and his team mate are running an enclosed jet fighter type canopy. Here's a few links of interest...
Definitely not a pleasant experience when those things let go. Interesting information there though. Not F1.. but relevant in the realm of chassis and survivability.
Does make you think a bit about open cockpit racing, though thankfully F1 crashes tend to not be quite that explosively violent.
Grip is a four letter word. All opinions are my own and not those of current or previous employers.
Just watch that video and see the rescue team strugling to get the canopy open in the end. Not deadly in this case because it seems all the fuel burnt when the engine burst, but that wouldn't be the case in F1
If you have a burning upside down car with a possibly unconsious driver, would you rather he is open to the flames, or closed in a protective area with an oxygen supply?
An Epoxy/ CF shell with a canopy on top is not a fire protected area, let alone O2 suply. That would be a whole new thing. And probably weight more than the rest of the car altogether.
In an interview on WindTunnel last night, Tony Schumacher said they have added "fireproofing around the backsides to prevent the flame intrusion you see in the video. It's still a work in progress...
As it is Top Fuel, there's no issues related to rain, fogging, cockpit heat, etc. that F1 would have to accomodate.
Not trying to be argumentative, but let me throw this in as food for thought.
When the HANS device was mandated, there was all kinds of whining and moaning. I remember MSC even asked for and received special dispensation to drive without it at one race. Barrichello had an inflatable pad fail and complained. But everybody eventually worked through it and it's now a non-issue. When/if enhanced cockpit safety is implemented, we'll go through the same thing.
In the give and take of things... This rollbar/canopy combination would have arguably saved Henry Surtees, Senna, prevented Massa's injury and prevented de Villota's injury just off of the top of my head. How many have escaped a cockpit fire? I recognize it may be because I won't remember a "non-issue" but I can't think of any.
I think the main issue with a canopy for F1 is field of view.
Drivers would be unable to see out of the car in some circumstances.
In the dragster this is not a problem.
I believe the canopy on the dragster is primarily for streamlining, I see little design use for safety.
It obviously increases the time taken to extract the driver, which could be a fatal delay in a fire situation.
Crucial in F1 but not so important in a dragster.
I disagree that high impact accidents would be improved much by using a canopy.
The energy involved in the best known accidents was much higher than could have been contained in a transparent material.
I think this is his team mate's car.