Driver cooling kit currently “unusable” – ocon

Hask driver Estaban Okon The FIA ​​has doubted the practicality of the new cooling waste, designed to help the drivers deal with the extreme conditions in the warm race, claiming that “no” can use the system in its current form.

The cooling device was introduced after drivers with physical challenges faced during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Although it is theoretically ready to use this season, its design allegedly caused discomfort, making it difficult to implement it.

The system in the system has integrated cooling tubes in the overalls of drivers, but the main issue appears to be the connection point where tube enters the suit, creating an uncomfortable pressure area.

According to Ocon, the device is currently “unusable”.

“At the moment, we can’t use the cooling vest,” he told the media in Bahrain. “You have tubes around, that’s fine. You have tubes in the back, this is also fine. But your hip has a massive tennis ball.

“If you put it here (on the chest), it is hurting with the belt. If you put it in the back, you can’t fit the seat. If you put it on the edge, you cannot fit the seat. So, yes, yes, it does not work for us, or at least what I have tried. And what I have heard from others is very similar.

“It’s good that the FIA ​​is able to provide us a solution and come up with some. But at the moment, I can’t use it, at least. I am not talking to others, but ourselves and Oli (Bayerman), we cannot use it.

“The product itself, which is standard, is not usable. It is very large. You know how tight the seat is everywhere in Formula 1. Where all the tubes are connected, it is like a knot of tubes. And that is why it is very large.”

For now, drivers have the option to use the system, but since 2026, the FIA ​​plans to make it mandatory. This gives time to the governing body to refine the device, although Ocon believes that the options of improvement are limited.

Asked if the cockpit seats could be modified to adjust the system, it was suspicious.

“Well, if you want a seat with a huge hole in it, it is very difficult to correct a seat. If you cut-out like this, you will lose in flexibility.

“So the only way I see it to improve if we manage to reduce that knot, or if we come with a solution, where some road cars, for example, are air conditioning through the seat, which we do not have on the way.”

Ocon also questioned the need to make the device mandatory, suggesting that drivers have well managed extreme conditions through fitness training.

“It is not much needed yet,” he said. “For extreme situations, I agree, for example, or sometimes like Singapore, but sometimes Singapore.

“I don’t know if there is more discussion. I am not in anyone’s position to use it. That’s what I believe. I can be wrong, but I think everyone is struggling to fit the car with these tubes.

“I think, you know, (we) are happy to the system on the board and are happy to add weight, and if we do not want to use it, we do not use it. But at the moment we cannot use it, so … it’s not if I am just a diva and I don’t want to use it! It will be the opposite, in reality.

With a mandatory introduction set for 2026, the FIA ​​will need to work closely with the teams to refine the system and ensure that the drivers can integrate it in their cockpit designs.