- Ferrari
Closed cockpits could be a solution - Alonso
Fernando Alonso has thrown his support behind a rethink about closed cockpits in Formula One following Jules Bianchi's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Bianchi suffered severe brain trauma after colliding with a recovery vehicle in Suzuka, which led to Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley saying closed cockpits would be "very easy to implement" in the sport. Alonso himself had a lucky escape in 2012 when the Lotus of Romain Grosjean narrowly missed his head in a big first-corner crash in Belgium.
With that experience in mind, and because of the amount of head injuries in motorsport today, Alonso believes the technology should be researched at the very least.
"I probably tend to agree we should at least try or test the idea," Alonso said. "We are in 2014, we have the technology, we have aeroplanes and many other examples used in a successful way, so why not to think about it? All the biggest accidents in motorsport in the last couple of years have been head injuries so it's probably one of the parts where we are not on the top of the safety.
"Even in my case, in 2012 at Spa, I probably could have died there in corner one if it had been 10 centimetres closer to my head. If the technology is there available and there is a possibility I would not exclude it for sure."
Alonso has a close relationship with Bianchi given their Ferrari connection and he was clearly still emotional about what had occurred at Suzuka.
"I think it was a very tough race. Obviously all our thoughts are with Jules and our minds are there because we have huge respect for our work. When there are big accidents there are no words to describe how bad you can feel. Right now we are here in a difficult weekend again, emotionally very difficult, ready to race, to race for him and to be as professional as we can at this moment and pray for him."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
