Zoom Always a risk, but much better safety today

Formula One is justly famous for high technology, speed and excitement, but it is arguably the progress made in the field of safety which has been the sport's most remarkable achievement in recent decades.

Accidents will happen, that is an inevitable aspect of motorsport, but in the past 15 years a concerted effort from teams and the FIA has drastically improved the protection offered to drivers and bystanders when those accidents happen.

Compare a car from the early 1990s to the current TF108 and two things stand out: the astonishing progress made in aerodynamics since then and the apparent vulnerability of drivers in that earlier era.

Safety is top priority at Toyota and drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock know their protection will not be compromised.

For example, after his accident in Hockenheim, Glock was at home a day later suffering no ill-effects - and he underlined that by finishing second in Hungary just two weeks later. So it is no wonder he says: "I feel safe when I am in the car. I don't worry about having any problems if I have an incident; I jump in the car every time with a good, safe feeling."

That safe feeling is no coincidence; it is a result of painstaking research into the effect of impacts on a car and its driver and that research has seen new devices introduced to increase protection.

One example is the Head and Neck Safety - or HANS - device, which sits on a driver's shoulders and attaches to his helmet, limiting head movement in an impact and therefore hugely reducing the risk of injury.

It has been compulsory in Formula One since 2003 and Toyota team doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli says: "The HANS device was developed in order to prevent any cervical trauma, in case of a frontal accident. It reduces the risk of critical damage on the neck, spinal area and we have to say that HANS has done a good job."

Another new development to protect the head and neck are the padded cockpit sides, which serve two functions: to absorb energy if struck by the helmet and protect debris from striking the driver from the side.

"This cockpit padding is made of very special foam," says Senior General Manager Chassis Pascal Vasselon. "The characteristic of this foam is temperature dependent. So, according to the ambient temperature one hour before either a test session or a race, we are informed by the FIA about the type of foam we have to use."