F1 announced on Friday that it will institute tougher tests on the roll hoop of cars for the upcoming season as a result of Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou’s significant crash during the British Grand Prix.
At the start of the race at Silverstone, a catastrophic collision caused Zhou’s car to be catapulted onto its roll hoop. Following collision between George Russell and Pierre Gasly, which sent the Mercedes spinning into his car, his Alfa Romeo rolled at about 230 km/h.
The roll hoop was torn off as Zhou’s Alfa Romeo crashed, skidded upside down along the Silverstone track, flew past a tyre wall, and got stuck between the catch fence and barriers.
The titanium Halo system that surrounds the cockpit ensured the rookie’s safety and prevented any catastrophic injuries to his head.
After being pulled away from his car and sent to the Silverstone medical facility for evaluation, Zhou was subsequently discharged after the medical personnel determined that he was in good health.
Later, Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur stated that Zhou’s roll hoop had been subjected to “two times more force than the load of the crash test” that the FIA places on roll hoops during safety testing.
In response to Zhou’s collision, the governing body declared it will increase the requirements on roll hoops in crash testing following a meeting of the FIA’s Formula 1 Technical Advisory Committee.
“The TAC discussed the serious incident involving Zhou Guanyu at Silverstone. The teams confirmed their availability to introduce more stringent measures on the roll hoops for 2023, and the FIA undertook to complete the relevant analyses, and to communicate to the teams new requirements for the safety of the roll hoop. The FIA welcomed the constructive approach of the teams during these discussions.” said the FIA in a statement.
The new tests will go along with proposed regulation modifications for 2023 that aim to lessen the phenomena of porpoising that many teams experienced after the introduction of ground effect cars for the 2022 season.
