Formula 1's governing body has been considering a change to the only feature of Grand Prix cars unchanged for the past few decades: closing the cockpit. That's why it's shooting a tire at 140 mph into a jet fighter canopy.


Ever since the death of Ayrton Senna, F1 has tackled safety threats to drivers systematically, to the point that weighing the pros and cons of putting a cover over the cockpit is the final frontier. Such ideas have been controversial in the past; canopies large enough to protect a driver add weight, reduce visibility and make it harder for the driver to get away from the car if it crashes or catches fire.

The FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety wanted to know whether jet fighter canopies, which face the same challenges of vision and weight, could protect a driver from debris on a track, like a tire. Given this, F1 may not be open-faced for too many more years.