The particularities of Alonso's cockpit for the Indy 500

This is a question that we rarely think about: how to prepare a tub ofIndyCar ? Thanks to McLaren and his favorite pilot Fernando Alonso, the answer is brought to you on a platter, the Spaniard having gone to Woking (Great Britain) at the beginning of March to refine his cockpit ahead of the Indianapolis 500 (Indiana, May 26).

The double world champion Formula 1 has a major concern, that of being as comfortably installed as possible. The cockpit in IndyCar is thus wider than in F1, in order to reduce fatigue on ovals. It must be said that in Indy, negotiating 800 times Banking left turns at more than 350 km/h puts a strain on the driver's body. 

Fernando Alonso's chief mechanic next May, Liam Dance, gives us a tour of the cockpit. “ In F1, the carbon fiber seat is built with the idea that it can be extracted from the car with the pilot during an accident. In IndyCar, the cockpit has more padding, the seat is made more of foam rather than carbon. 

This padding on the right side is crucial, especially on the head area. » The Asturian's head will in fact experience a centrifugal force equal to four times the weight of his body in the curves of Indianapolis. The padding will be more substantial on the right side (see photo at the top of the article) because the head will be pushed to this side. To avoid having to make the effort to keep your head upright, the protection is thicker.

“We pay a lot of attention to it, continues Liam Dance, giving him various options regarding the level of support for his head. » The other difference is in the leg compartment. “In F1, the driver uses the brakes every lap, whereas in Indy, he never touches them, except to enter the pits. 

The most important thing when adjusting the pedals is check that your feet are far from the brake pedal. In this way, there is no probability that he could accidentally put his foot on it. We spent a long time on this subject. »

Urban artist each leg is surrounded by padding. “They will both be pushed to the right. It's a long race, Fernando will be quite tired at the finish, even more so if he is compressed towards the sides of the chassis. » The cockpit prepared, all that remains is to wait until May!