Alex Wurz, chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, has claimed the group supports the FIA’s decision to force the introduction of the ‘Halo’ cockpit protection device in 2018.
On Wednesday evening it was confirmed the governing body had used its power to push through the proposal on safety grounds, this despite a reported nine of the 10 teams voting against it when brought up in a meeting of the Strategy Group.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement has been very poorly received, indeed many drivers, including recently promoted GPDA director Romain Grosjean, having previously stated their opposition to any kind of additional cockpit protection, but the union has backed the governing body after taking a step back on the issue in recent months.
“Drivers respect the FIA’s stand on safety and support their ongoing quest to make racing safer,” former Benetton and McLaren driver Wurz told Motorsport.com on Thursday.
“The Halo solution might not be the most aesthetically pleasing for everyone,” he admitted. “[But] we drivers will nevertheless race and push as hard as we can on track, which is the key for F1 to continue its growth and popularity.
“Formula 1 is a role model for ever-increasing safety without jeopardising performance,” he added.
“Over recent decades, we have seen increasing speeds and ever faster lap times. This ultimate racing quest is solely possible due to increasing safety.”
The issue of cockpit safety arose after several tragic deaths in motorsport including the likes of Henry Surtees, Justin Wilson and the first F1 death in 20 years when Jules Bianchi passed away two years ago this week from head injuries sustained in a crash at Suzuka in 2014.
Many believe this will signal the end of open-cockpit racing, albeit the Halo, for now, will only be introduced in F1, and argue the solution is not sufficient to deal with all potential incidents with many pointing to the spring that hit Felipe Massa in qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Regardless, the decision now seems final and the sport should concentrate on minimising the controversy it causes, the GPDA formally backing the FIA is one such route to doing just that.