Motor racing-Drivers say F1 cockpit cooling system needs more work

By Alan Baldwin

SAKHIR, Bahrain, April 11 (Reuters) - Formula One's new cockpit cooling system still needs work, drivers said ahead of two of the hottest races of the year in the Middle East.

Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabia's race in Jeddah the following weekend are both in the evening/night time with cooler conditions than during the day but temperatures are still expected to be high.

Afternoon air temperatures at the Sakhir circuit during first practice on Friday were above 35 degrees Celsius. The track temperature hit 46 degrees.

Formula One's new 'heat hazard' regulations, introduced after drivers suffered exhaustion in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, allow a driver cooling kit to be used in declared extreme weather.

"I think it still has a bit of fine tuning to go," McLaren's Oscar Piastri told reporters at Sakhir when asked about the system.

"I think it’s been a good process with the FIA and the manufacturers with the cooling system, and I think it will be a big positive for us. But for me personally, it’s not quite ready to be used.

"There’s been a lot of good work going on, but I think Sunday, given it’s a night race and it looks a bit cooler, I’m not sure we’ll actually trigger the heat hazard with the FIA anyway."

There are several approved systems, involving cooled fluid circulated in the driver overalls, which have been developed by the governing FIA and teams.

Use is voluntary this season, but will become mandatory next year if extreme conditions are declared. An FIA spokesman said it was possible one or two teams could use a version of the system in Sunday's race.

Piastri said use of the system would also come with a weight penalty.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon said some of the issues experienced in Qatar had been addressed but the system needed further development.

"The way the seats are designed and some of the vests -- it's very different to what we are currently using. It's much more bulky and a lot bigger," he said.

"We would need to basically redo a complete seat and I'm not even sure doing that would still be suitable in corners. So good initiative, but I think they need a bit more thought behind it, from our side as well, on how we could accommodate it better."

Aston Martin's Lance Stroll agreed: "It still needs some work, that's the reality," he said.

"It depends how desperate you are to be cool in the car. I think it's going to come down to that in the really hot races if the product doesn't improve. It's not very comfortable, but (we) get a few degrees out of it, so we'll see."