Masi provides feedback on Turkish GP prototype glove trial

Jamie Woodhouse
First corner of the Turkish Grand Prix. Istanbul October 2021.

Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly make contact in the first corner of the Turkish Grand Prix. Istanbul October 2021.

Formula 1 race director Michael Masi confirmed that driver feedback was “consistently good” over the new gloves trialled at the Turkish GP.

In a direct response to Romain Grosjean’s frightening fireball crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, the FIA identified that the gloves drivers wear were an area where safety could be improved.

Grosjean miraculously walked away from the crash thanks to swift intervention from the medical team, though the injuries he did suffer were related to his hands, in particular severe burns to the left hand.

So at the Turkish Grand Prix, five drivers were tasked with testing new gloves with increased fire resistance.

Among them were seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and four-time champ Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton and Carlos Sainz used gloves manufactured by Puma in the test, Daniel Ricciardo’s came from Sparco, Vettel’s were made by Alpinestars and George Russell used OMP’s gloves.

“After Romain’s accident, we started working directly on this area,” Masi told Motorsport-Total.com.

“And I think we realised very quickly that this is an area that can be improved together with the manufacturers.”

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Masi was pleased to report that the feedback from the drivers was “consistently good” after a test that focused on the comfort of the gloves.

“There are still a few small tweaks with some brands, but nothing insurmountable in this respect,” he continued.

“The flame retardant aspect has already proven itself according to our standards. It was literally about driver comfort, similar to the race suits we tested a few years ago when the new standard for race suits was introduced.

“We are very grateful to the drivers and the teams involved that we can actually use them and that we have been given this opportunity.

“And it shows that we are trying to increase the level of protection as much as possible.”

 

While the FIA has the authority to allow prototypes to be used during official testing sessions on safety grounds, the gloves would need to be approved by the World Motor Sport Council to be homologated for full-time use in F1.