Motorsport safety progress should not be held back by tradition. David Malsher argues that leaving drivers exposed is an unnecessary, archaic, arcane anomaly in a sport that prides itself on being cutting edge. It’s time for open-wheel racing on both sides of the Atlantic to stop tying itself in knots trying to come up with a cockpit-protection solution that still allows a series to describe its cars as open-cockpit. It’s time, in other words, for both IndyCar and Formula 1 to mandate closed cockpits. The possible improvements to head protection we have seen tested in F1 so far – the aeroscreen and the Halo – are very worthy efforts that are big steps in the right direction. But...
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