The Belgian Grand Prix crash that got Frenchman Romain Grosjean banned for a race has stoked ongoing debate about cockpit safety in Formula One without providing any clearer solution to the problem. The incident in which Grosjean's Lotus lifted into the air and skimmed across the front of leader Fernando Alonso's Ferrari in the first corner pile-up,is blamed squarely on the Frenchman's aggressive driving. "We were lucky nothing hit Fernando on the head," team boss Stefano Domenicali said,while discussing that inexperienced young drivers should be punished heavily for failings in the junior categories to ensure they arrive in Formula One with more awareness. Protecting the driver's head in such incidents with flying cars and debris has long been a concern for F1. Brazilian Felipe Massa's near-fatal head injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix,when the Ferrari driver was hit on the helmet by a bouncing metal spring shed from a car in front,was a reminder. The governing FIA has done tests with jet-fighter style closed cockpits and forward roll hoops,a metal structure placed right in front of the driver to guard against a frontal blow to the helmet,but all carry other risks. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh agreed that there was a need for some sort of added protection but closed cockpits were not the solution. "You can put this glass bubble over the drivers but you can't assume that they are thereafter safe." Whitmarsh pointed to the considerable amount of research carried out in aviation to counter the effect of bird strikes on aircraft and how difficult it had been to protect a pilot while allowing undistorted visibility. In the case of motor racing there are the added problems of impeding sightlines,cars overturning or suffering electrical fires with cockpits filling up with smoke.
