The latest development in the safety package for the driver is called HANS. A collar made of carbon fibre is fastened below the seatbelt on the driver’s upper body and connected to the driver’s helmet with the aid of textile straps; this serves to ensure that in the event of an accident the driver’s head is prevented from being whipped forward and thus overstretching the back bone in the cervical region. “HANS is an extremely effective form of protection,” says Brian O’Rourke, “the driver’s head movement is thus connected to his torso. This in turn reduces the risk to the spinal column.”

At the heart of the safety concept is the monocoque – when translated, the French term literally means “single-shell”. The safety cell, made from carbon-fibre composite material extending over several layers, weighs less than 60 kilograms and forms a protective cover around the driver. “It guarantees outstanding strength with low weight,” says Brian O’Rourke. On average, twelve layers of carbon fibre are baked at 400 degrees Celsius in so-called autoclaves, at overpressure, to form a monocoque; a 25 millimetre thick padding is also added to the knee area.

An additional part of the safety puzzle is that of the tailor-made seat. Since 1999, it has no longer been permissible to permanently install it into the monocoque, so it can be removed along with the driver in order to minimise the risk of injury to the driver’s spinal column when being rescued from the car. The driver is held firmly in the seat by the individually adaptive six-point seat belt: two over the driver’s shoulder and four over the pelvis and thighs. The belts are all clicked into a single buckle, which can be opened by the driver in a single hand movement. A driver must also be able to get out of the car within a maximum of five seconds. In order to be able to pass this vital FIA test, the cockpit entrance has also been enlarged throughout the course of the years (850 millimetres long). It has to be 45 centimetres wide at the steering wheel and 35 centimetres at the pedals.

The cockpit, through which no fuel or oil lines may be routed, also includes additional protective functions. A fire extinguisher system must be able to be triggered by the driver on his own or from someone else outside. Also, the side cockpit walls must rise up towards the rear at an incline of at least 16 degrees to help driver safety. The cockpit edge is to be equipped with an energy-absorbing material that is at least 75 millimetres thick. The edge of the cockpit must not break; in the centre it must be able to withstand a weight of one ton. The cockpit interior is padded all the way around the driver’s head with a removable protector: this head and neck protector must also be 75 millimetres thick.

It is not just these millimetric dimensions which are inspected time and time again. The safety concept is an on-going matter. “When developing a car we have two goals: we want to build a fast racing car and provide the driver with as much protection as possible,” says Brian O’Rourke. Thus, just as the development of a car never comes to a standstill, the safety package is also subject to continuous improvements. For example, the matter of airbags for a Formula 1 car is something that is continuously discussed. However, because of a race car’s extremely firm ride and because the G-forces are extremely high, a reliable triggering system has still not been developed yet which can differentiate between whether the airbag should be deployed or whether the driver is just braking very hard.

Conversely, many parts included in the Formula 1 safety package have found their way, in an adapted form, into passenger cars. Here too the occupants are protected by a bundle of measures that dovetail with each other. The Formula 1 monocoque corresponds to the stable passenger cell, it forms a sort of safety cage. In contrast to the chassis’ crumple zones it is – where possible – not deformable. The seat belts represent another module. “The occupants must take part in the vehicle’s deceleration at as early a stage as possible. This is why they have to wear seat belts,” says Dr. Hartmuth Wolff from the Allianz Center for Technology in Munich. “The seat belt remains the most efficient piece of safety equipment. The supplementary protection afforded by the airbags only comes into play when the seat-belt system reaches its limits in the event of a head-on collision or if a side impact occurs.”

Airbags are made up of a cushion of air, electronic sensors and pyrotechnical fuel with an ignition system. In the event of an impact, the sensors trigger an explosive charging of the airbag within ten milliseconds, which then in turn is fully inflated within an additional 30 milliseconds (front airbag) or 10 milliseconds (side airbag). “Even the seat cushion is part of the safety package,” says Hartmuth Wolff. “The seats are firmer than before and under the padding they now have a ramp which rises forwards. This prevents what is known as submarining – the risk of the occupant sliding underneath the belt.” Ultimately, the seats and, in particular, the head-rests must be correctly set. Experts recommend that “the top of the head and the head-rest must be at the same height.” “If just one part of the safety package fails to operate, then the efficiency of the whole system is jeopardized. ” An aspect that applies in equal measures to both passenger cars and Formula 1.