SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015 SPORTS Closed cockpits in Formula One? Not so fast MONZA: The idea of enveloping Formula One drivers in awful and restricted his visibility. The death last month in bottom of a bottle, thick glass could also hinder drivers’ en wishbone, that would wrap around in front of the closed cockpits to better protect them from flying debris IndyCar of British driver Justin Wilson after a flying piece vision. driver at head level and rest on a central strut. and crashes is more complicated than it sounds. of crash debris struck his helmet is, understandably, To be suitable in F1, the canopy would “need to have Another idea is to have two thin blades that would The governing body of motorsport, the FIA, has tried, prompting renewed calls for greater protection. very high optical quality,” said Whiting, “and for that it poke up from the flat space in front of the driver’s steer- and for the moment, rejected closed cockpits for F1 after “You have got to get a canopy on the car of some would be massively heavy.” ing wheel, again to deflect away debris. More tests are they tested one concept by firing heavy tires at the sort because we can’t have this happening as much as it DEATH TRAP? Another concern is that drivers could scheduled for this month. “It’s not going to be as good as canopy of an F-16 fighter jet. has over the past few years,” McLaren-Honda driver and become trapped under canopies meant to protect them. a canopy but it won’t have the disadvantages that the F1 is, however, working toward a compromise that former world champion Jenson Button, said in Monza “There are major problems extracting injured drivers canopy has,” said Whiting. will increase driver protection while keeping cockpits ahead of the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. “There has from closed cars,” said Whiting. “If the car was slightly MIDDLE GROUND: In short, F1 seems headed for a open, says race director Charlie Whiting. been a lot of head injuries which have ended up in damaged and was on fire, and you couldn’t get it (the compromise solution that will both respect its open- Tradition and aesthetics are considerations, too. Since death, so it has to change.” canopy) off, no one would be able to take the driver out.” cockpit tradition and look but also offer drivers better the shockingly unsafe early days of F1 when drivers But based on FIA testing so far, the solution isn’t likely OTHER CONCEPTS: The FIA experimented a couple protection without fully enveloping them. Whiting says raced without safety belts and in flimsy leather caps, to be a closed canopy. “We’ve looked at fully closed cock- of years ago with thick bars and struts attached to the that if this month’s tests are successful, the technology cockpits have always been open, allowing spectators to pits ... and we’ve rejected them for a number of reasons,” top of a car, directly in front of the driver. The contraption could be introduced for 2017. What we’re trying to do is see the men battling to control their speedy machines. F1 race director Whiting said in an interview Friday at could deflect large objects, like flying tires, protecting reduce the risk while accepting the fact that it’s an open- Bolting a transparent dome or clunky safety bars Monza with The Associated Press. Here’s why: the occupant, but looked ugly. cockpit formula,” Whiting said. “It’s inevitable that we will onto F1 cars will ruin their sleek lines. A debris-deflecting TOO HEAVY: Tires fired at the F-16 canopy did “It was a pretty chunky and, dare I say it, horrible- end up with something that will protect the driver more, pyramid-shaped contraption already tested by the FIA bounce harmlessly off. But the glass needs to be thick. looking thing,” said Whiting. More recent concepts are but not as a closed cockpit, unless something miraculous on a car that Lotus driver Romain Grosjean tested looked That would make them heavy. Like peering through the more elegant. They include a hoop, shaped like a chick- happens and we can overcome those problems.” — AP Hamilton storms to 11th pole in 12 races MONZA: Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton saw off a strong Ferrari challenge at the Italian team’s home Grand Prix to seal his seventh pole posi- tion in a row and 11th in 12 races yester- day. The Mercedes driver, whose team mate and title rival Nico Rosberg will start fourth after engine problems forced him to revert to using one with- out the latest updates, now has 49 career poles. The pole, in bright sunshine, was the Briton’s fourth at Monza and 23rd in suc- cession for Mercedes, one short of the record set by the Williams team in 1992- 93. Kimi Raikkonen joined him on the front row with Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel qualifying third. “These guys did a great job, they are very close,” said Hamilton, who leads Rosberg by 28 points in the champi- LONDON: England’s Eoin Morgan plays a shot off the bowling of Australia’s Glenn Maxwell during the One Day onship, of his Ferrari rivals after taking International cricket match. — AP pole with a lap of one minute 23.397 seconds and two tenths faster than Raikkonen. “My Spa lap was better,” he Malik gets added, referring to his Belgian pole of Australia two weeks earlier. Vettel, who could become the first driver since Stirling PCB contract Moss in the 1950s to win at Monza with defeat three different teams, hoped Ferrari ISLAMABAD: Allrounder Shoaib Malik is a surprise inclu- would have a chance on Sunday but sion among six players awarded category A contracts by the made clear Hamilton was the over- ITALY: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain (center) pole position, is Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday. England whelming favorite. flanked by Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland (right) second fastest time, Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Twenty20 skipper Shahid “I think it’s a fantastic result, second and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, who set the third fastest time, Afridi, batsman Younis Khan and allrounder Mohammad and third and very close to Lewis,” said LONDON: Australia beat England by 64 runs to win the after the qualifying session for today’s Formula One Italian Grand Prix. — AP Hafeez were retained in the top category while ODI captain the German, racing for the first time in second one-day international at Lord’s yesterday as they Azhar Ali has been elevated from category C to A. The 33- Italy in Ferrari red. went 2-0 up in the five-match series. weekend, knew this place is not our renewal.” The Williams pairing of Felipe year-old Malik was recalled for the limited overs series “Sorry Lewis, but I wouldn’t mind if But an otherwise routine win was overshadowed when strongest probably but in the end the Massa and Valtteri Bottas qualified fifth against Zimbabwe at home in May after two years and you are not on the podium,” he grinned. England all-rounder Ben Stokes was controversially given car turned out to be pretty good in and sixth with Mexican Sergio Perez scored a century against the African nation. “You can be, but if we are both ahead of out obstructing the field-a dismissal greeted by jeers round qualifying conditions,” said the Finn. seventh for Force India. Malik had not been part of the PCB’s central contract for you that would obviously be a dream Lord’s. “It’s nice to be here, a home race for Toro Rosso’s Dutch teenager Max the last two years since he was dropped after the 2013 come true. Sent into bat, world champions Australia made 309 for us. This was our best qualifying perform- Verstappen failed to set a lap time Champions Trophy due to lack of form. Fast bowler Umar “I think dreaming is allowed but you seven in a match reduced by rain to 49 overs per side, cap- ance this year as a team so we will try after his car’s engine cover blew off in Gul, recovering from knee surgery, has been ignored by the have to be realistic. It’s going to be a tain Steven Smith top-scoring with 70 and all-rounder and give another good go tomorrow the first phase of qualifying-the first PCB in the list of 27 players, who were given contracts in four tough race tomorrow and these guys Mitchell Marsh making 64 towards the end of the innings. and get a good result for ourselves and time he has failed to reach the second categories for a period in between July 2015-June 2016. Fast (Mercedes) have some serious pace.” England in reply saw captain Eoin Morgan, infuriated by our fans.” The Finn’s performance drew stage in his 12-race career. He should bowler Junaid Khan and Saeed Ajmal had been demoted Raikkonen, the 2007 champion for Stokes’s dismissal, top-score with 85 before he was last immediate praise from watching Ferrari move up the grid once a mass of from category A to B while Umar Akmal also slipped into cat- Ferrari, said it was nice to be back on the man out in a total of 245. chairman Sergio Marchionne: “We saw a penalties on cars ahead, including egory C from B. Tall fast bowler Mohammad Irfan gets a pro- front row in front of the tifosi after a No other batsman made more than 43 as Australia won different Kimi.