Between safety and convenience
During a recent interview given to the official Formula 1 podcastBeyond the Gridthe former Colombian pilot Juan Pablo Montoya he touched on many topics regarding his career in the Circus and in general in the main motorsport categories in which he was a protagonist, from WEC to NASCAR obviously passing through the many successes achieved in IndyCar. Among the perhaps lesser known but more curious topics covered by the legendary Juancho there was also the introduction of the HANS systemnow recognized by all as a fundamental element of protection and safety for pilots.
His job is to reduce the risk of injuries to the head and neck complex and its introduction has been seen as one of the fundamental steps taken in terms of safety for pilots in the last 20 years. As often happens with many revolutions however – as had also happened with the Halo – not everyone immediately appreciated its effectiveness. Among the most critical was Montoya himself, who above all contested the nature of this particular instrument inconvenience. In fact, the first HANS were certainly not as sophisticated and ergonomic as those currently available to the best pilots in the world.
Montoya's tale
“I hated the HANS system – Montoya admitted without hesitation – Why it was really uncomfortable. It's funny because it was 2002 and they said we would put it together in 2003. I didn't want it. In one race I had to take a spare car and I don't know what happened with the HANS: I couldn't fit it. So I took the car to the grid or somewhere without having the HANS, I don't remember where. It was funny because I remember the engineers telling me: 'Be very careful, you don't have HANS'. And I thought to myself: “Man, I've been running my whole life without HANS. It's no different than six months ago.”. The problem of the first HANS – concluded Montoya – it was that they were really uncomfortable. Lthe shape was wrong. The padding was terrible. They weren't like today: now there are gel pads which are perfect. Today I would never get into a racing car without a HANS”.
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