All cars must be fitted with a fire extinguishing system
that will discharge into the cockpit and engine compartment. It must be
operable by the driver and must function even if the car’s main
electrical circuit fails.
There must also be a switch to trigger
the system from outside the cockpit. Its location on the bodywork is
indicated by a red letter "E” inside a white circle.
There must
be a circuit breaker switch in the cockpit that the driver can use to
cut all the car’s main electrical circuits. This is marked on the
dashboard by a red spark in a white-edged blue triangle. There must be
an additional switch that marshals can operate from a distance with the
use of a special hook. This switch is located at the base of the car’s
main roll-over structure.
All cars must have two rear-view
mirrors, whose size and location must comply with strict requirements.
Drivers must demonstrate to the FIA the effectiveness of the mirrors by
identifying special letter and number boards placed at various distances
behind the car whilst seated in the cockpit.
Seatbelts are
compulsory in Formula One racing. Drivers must wear two shoulder straps,
one abdominal strap and two straps between the legs. These must comply
with strictly specified FIA standards.
All cars must have a red
light on the rear of the car in a specific location defined by the FIA
regulations. The driver must be able to switch this light on at any
time. This is usually done in poor weather conditions in order to make
the car more visible to following drivers.
The cockpit of the car
must be padded to protect the driver in the event of an impact. In
particular, the areas immediately behind and to the sides of his head,
and above and to the sides of his legs.
In order to easily
extract a driver from a car in the event of an accident its seat must be
removable with the driver in place and his seatbelts fastened. The seat
must be secured by no more than two bolts, which can be released using a
standard tool issued to all rescue crews.
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