Haas driver Esteban Ocon has questioned the practicality of the FIA’s new cooling vests, designed to help drivers cope with high temperatures during the hottest races. According to him, at least for now, the system is unusable.
The cooling kit was introduced following the physical struggles drivers faced during the 2023 Qatar GP. Although it is theoretically ready to be used this season, its design has reportedly caused discomfort, making it difficult to wear.
“At the moment, we can’t use the cooling vest,” Esteban Ocon said during the pre-season testing session which was held last week in Bahrain. “The tubes are everywhere, and that’s fine. There are tubes on the back, which is still fine. But there’s this kind of huge tennis ball on the side. If you put it here [on the chest], it hurts with the belts. If you put it on the back or the side, you can’t fit into the seat. So yeah, at the moment, it doesn’t work for us—or at least, from what I’ve tried. And from what I’ve heard, it seems to be the same for other drivers as well.
“It’s good that the FIA has managed to provide us with a solution and propose something. But at the moment, at least for me, the kit is unusable—it’s too big. You know how tight the seat is in Formula 1, where all the tubes connect… it just looks like a tangled mess. It’s really too bulky.” – he pointed out.
A mandatory system?
For now, drivers can choose whether or not to use the new system, but despite its obvious issues, the FIA plans to make it mandatory from 2026. This will allow time to refine the device, though Esteban Ocon believes the possibilities for improvement are limited.
When asked whether cockpit seats could be modified to accommodate the system, he was skeptical: “Well, unless you want a seat with a huge hole in it, no. It’s very difficult to get a perfectly fitting seat. If you make a cutout like that, you lose a lot of flexibility.
“So the only way I see an improvement is if we can reduce that tangled mess or find a solution similar to what exists in some road cars, where there’s air conditioning through the seat—something we can’t have for now.” – the Haas driver concluded.
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