As part of the “heat hazard” protocol, all teams were instructed to install an 11-pound “driver cooling system” in their cars. This included a storage container of cold fluid, a plump, plumbing, and a cooling vest.
Drivers were recommended, but not required, to wear the vest — a fireproof garment with tubing installed to circulate cold fluid over their bodies during the race.
Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s single-seater director, told me in the F1 paddock that the sport was still fundamentally dangerous.
“The heat hazard started about two years ago when we had a race in Qatar, which was extremely hot, and there were drivers who were fainting after the race and just couldn’t get out of the cars,” Tombazis said.
He said the vests will “allow drivers to keep their cool” in a hot race.
Some of the drivers were not too keen on the new addition to their garb. Max Verstappen, the Dutch-Belgian driver of Red Bull Racing, said before the race that he did not like the tubes and did not intend to use the vest.
But George Russell of Mercedes said he had worn the vest before, and backed the system, per a report by the BBC.
Cameron Kelleher, F1’s director of communications, told me that the vests were heavier than necessary and were still a work in progress.