{"id":189899,"date":"2025-10-04T17:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/189899\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T17:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:53:08","slug":"hamilton-verstappen-urge-fia-not-to-enforce-silly-cooling-vests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/189899\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton, Verstappen urge FIA not to enforce ‘silly’ cooling vests"},"content":{"rendered":"

SINGAPORE – Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both urged the governing FIA not to enforce a \u201csilly\u201d rule making cooling vests mandatory for Formula 1 drivers at certain hot races after this year.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s Singapore Grand Prix has been declared a heat hazard by the FIA, which means cars run with an extra 5kg of mandatory car weight to accommodate drivers wearing an optional cooling vests.<\/p>\n

Drivers that opt against it have the weight added to their car via a ballast system. The FIA implemented the cooling vest rule after several drivers nearly passed out during and after the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix from the extreme humidity.<\/p>\n

During Friday\u2019s usual drivers\u2019 briefing, it is understood that several drivers raised objections about a push from the governing body to make the device mandatory at hot races from 2026 onwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it should ever be forced on drivers,\u201d said Ferrari\u2019s Lewis Hamilton, who has previously noted that the device feels \u201citchy\u201d to wear. \u201cThey keep saying it\u2019s a safety issue, but there\u2019s no driver that\u2019s ever died from overheating in the race, apart from obviously in flames back in the day. It\u2019s like, it\u2019s just getting silly. That should be our choice to have it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate they\u2019ve made it available to us and we\u2019ll continue to work and improve on the system and I think it can be potentially beneficial in crazy hot places, but if you want to use it because it\u2019s comfortable, it should never be like you have to wear this.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u2018Heat hazard\u2019: What are F1 cooling vests and how do they work?<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressed on whether he will wear it for the race, he said: \u201cI have tried it, yeah. I might use it tomorrow, depending how hot it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen also spoke out against the idea of it being mandatory, saying the vest will feel like \u201chot tea\u201d after 15 or 20 laps of Singapore\u2019s circuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t used the vest,\u201d Verstappen said after qualifying. \u201cI\u2019m also not intending to use it because I feel like this needs to be a driver choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, from the FIA side, they will always throw it on safety, but then we can talk about a lot of stuff that can be improved on safety — including pit entries in certain places. I think that has a bit more priority than a vest in the car because I don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like the tubes that are on you, on your body, with the belts that go next to you. Then they can say it\u2019s [just] a bad design. I disagree. It just needs to be an option for the drivers to choose. Some like it, some don\u2019t, and that\u2019s fine. It should be a personal preference. And I know this year we can, but probably next year they don\u2019t want to do that, and I feel that is not the right thing. The problem is that in GT cars or any other cars, prototypes, you have a bit more space to put stuff or at least put the cables. In our cockpits, it\u2019s so narrow that there is no space — or at least not enough space. And that is also a little bit of a problem I find.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, where are you going to put the dry ice? The cars are not designed really to have this extra kind of space, and within 15, 20 laps, it\u2019s anyway gone. And then you have hot water … or tea!\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams driver and Grand Prix Drivers\u2019 Association (GPDA) chairman Carlos Sainz said he is happy to let it remain optional as he is sure performing at a cooler temperature comes at a significant performance benefit to those who wear it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy not to make it mandatory and the ones that don\u2019t want to use it have a disadvantage in the race. For me it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so convinced it works and it helps even though I\u2019ve done 10 Singapores without suffering physically and being able to finish it. As soon as you study a bit of physiology you understand that there\u2019s a performance advantage [wearing it].\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI think if it\u2019s not a huge safety issue they should leave it open [to drivers to choose].<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree with the guys that don\u2019t want to use it. If they don\u2019t want to because they feel really uncomfortable then don\u2019t use it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE – Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both urged the governing FIA not to enforce a \u201csilly\u201d rule…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-189899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}