MOTORSPORT: Safety the absolute priority

Grand Prix drivers are becoming more outspoken, and now their representative has got on the front foot to emphasise that the cockpit protection being considered for next year has to be absolutely about safety rather than appearances.

The Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) recently published an open letter criticising what it called Formula 1's "obsolete and ill-structured" decision-making processes.

That prompted the sport's veteran commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone to call some of them "windbags", while 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve advised them to "shut up".

However, safety is an issue that is largely non-negotiable, although there are different opinions on the approaches contemplated for greater cockpit protection.

Top teams Mercedes and Ferrari prefer a halo arrangement above the cockpit to prevent flying debris, particularly tyres, striking a driver's head.

However, there has been criticism of the halo Ferrari briefly displayed in pre-season testing, largely because of what some perceived as its ugliness.

Red Bull Racing revealed its concept – a much higher windscreen with pillars inside the rear-view mirrors and an unobstructed forward view – off-track during the Australian GP last month and plans to trial it soon.

Australia's F1 star Daniel Ricciardo, not surprisingly, has supported the Red Bull design, saying it "probably seemed to cover a few more bases" than the halo – although he has only experienced a mock-up of his team's idea at its British factory.

Moves to increase cockpit protection have sped up following the deaths of Frenchman Jules Bianchi, nine months after a crash in the 2014 Japanese GP, and British driver Justin Wilson in IndyCar late last season.

Other horror incidents in recent years have included the death of John Surtees' son Henry when hit by a flying tyre in a Formula 2 race and Brazilian F1 driver Felipe Massa's fractured skull when a flying spring hit his helmet during qualifying for a Hungarian GP.

Fernando Alonso's crash at the recent Australian GP has raised queries about the difficulties of a driver getting out of an overturned F1 car with extra protection over the cockpit.

GPDA chairman Alex Wurz, an Austrian ex-F1 driver and two-time Le Mans 24-hour sports car classic winner, said at the weekend that any cockpit protection mandated for next year must place the priority on saving lives even if it is thought to be ugly.

Wurz said that, while there are differing opinions among drivers, they were "100 per cent" agreed that something had to be done.

Ricciardo rebuked German rival Nico Hulkenberg after Ferrari revealed its halo at testing in Barcelona, telling the Force India driver not to try to be a hero when he dismissed that concept as looking horrible and sterilising the sport.

"There needs to be an element of danger that makes it sexy and attractive ... that's what F1 needs," Hulkenberg said.

While the German defended his right to speak his mind, he has kept his thoughts to himself since.

Wurz said the safety moves had to be "about function first".

"Is the halo beautiful? No. Is the function the correct one to implement? Yes, and most of the drivers say the same," Wurz told Autosport.

"With the halo or any head protection, if you are the unlucky one and an object is coming at you out of the sky, then we just want that person to have a high chance of survival.

"It will not take away any courage or skill, such as going through Eau Rouge [at Belgium's Spa circuit] at 320kmh."

Wurz's preference is believed to have been for a jet fighter-style canopy, but he said the halo – which appears to be the strong preference of the governing Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) safety institute – was "very implementable" for next year and its appearance could be improved over time.

"Now we have the function the designers will make it look more beautiful or come up with a different-looking design," Wurz said.

"There will be upgrades. In two or three years it may be better looking, and maybe in four years' time we will all say 'Wow! This is a stark improvement'."

Wurz said he had only seen Red Bull's drawings and could not be sure of the effectiveness of its concept yet.

"It's trying to do what the halo is trying to achieve," he said.

"The Red Bull design is obviously trying to make it look a little better than the halo.

"Some like it more, some like it less.

"The Red Bull version at least visualises something they had in mind, and does not yet calculate it with the structures, and the function it needs to have."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he believed the concept from his designers was "a more elegant, potentially safer solution than what we have seen so far", but admitted it needed to satisfy the FIA in testing.

Ricciardo said the Red Bull version seemed "a pretty good first try".

"They've basically done the pillars so that they are in-line with the mirrors," he said.

"The mirrors [already] block a certain part of our vision, so it actually didn't impede anything extra than what we have now.

"In terms of function, I think the Red Bull one is good … probably covers a few more bases [than the halo]."

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has doubted that Red Bull's concept could be adopted for next year.

"It is considerably further behind in development, it's never been tested, but it could offer additional protection," Whiting said.

"I have got my doubts as to whether it could actually be implemented for 2017, whereas I think the halo could."

New Schu off to a flying start in Italy
Michael Schumacher's 17-year-old son Mick has taken an instant lead in Italy's Formula 4 Championship, winning two of his three races at the opening round.

The young Schumacher will also compete again in the German F4 series starting next weekend at Oschersleben after finishing only 10th last season while Australian teammate Joey Mawson was third.

Mawson scored five wins and Schumacher only one, in a reverse-grid race, when they were both with Dutch-based Van Amersfoort Racing last year.

Mawson, 19, and perhaps the brightest prospect of the young Australians racing overseas this year, has stayed with Van Amersfoort – for which F1 sensation Max Verstappen previously raced.

Schumacher has switched to Italian-based and Ferrari-connected Prema Powerteam with which Australian Ryan Briscoe once won a European F3 Championship.

While Schumacher is starting the season in two F4 series he may opt to concentrate on one.

There are 41 competitors in the Italian series and, after winning two heats, Schumacher started on pole position for the final of the round at the Misano circuit.

He stalled on the grid but fought back to finish fourth, which was enough to give him the honours for the weekend while his seven-time world champion father remains out of public view after a skiing accident more than two years ago.

The German championship will have 45 competitors and 38 of them tested for two days last week at Oschersleben, with the "new" Schumacher fastest and Mawson fourth – and the Sydneysider was happy with that.

"There was only just more than a tenth of a second between the top five drivers at the end of the test," Mawson said.

"We had a schedule of things the team wanted to try and were more focused on the bigger picture rather than just simply being fast in a pre-season test.

"We didn't put on a lot of new sets of tyres. The main thing for us was to ensure we got the maximum life out of tyres, which will help us in the long run throughout the year."

Toyota star on course in NASCAR title defence
NASCAR champion Kyle Busch now heads the American stock car series again this season after his second straight victory – this time at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota headed home the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Junior, one of Roger Penske's Fords driven by Joey Logano and another Chevrolet in the hands of six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.

Busch now leads Johnson by six points, 259-253, after seven rounds of the 36-race championship, with Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet) and Carl Edwards (Toyota) third and fourth.

Logano is fifth and Penske teammate Brad Keselowski ninth, with Earnhardt, Kurt Busch (Chevrolet) and this year's Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin (Toyota) between them.