Historic questions

[manchild]

1.What for were those little tubes on chain attached on overall's zipper of F1 drivers back in the 70s and early 80s? Dog tags? Blood type info?

http://photos.racing-live.com/f1/photos ... po_111.jpg

Brabham drivers had them too but not cylindrical shape.

http://photos.racing-live.com/f1/photos ... po_123.jpg


2. What is the function of rubber pipe attached to driver's helmet.

http://photos.racing-live.com/f1/photos ... po_173.jpg

http://photos.racing-live.com/f1/photos ... po_141.jpg

[Tom]

The tags I would guess would be so that a drivers overalls could be quickly removed in case of a serious accident, it would be hard to remove overalls with a normal zip, which could mean the paramedics had to wait an extra minute to get to drivers internals in an emergency.

The rubber pipe I assume is for drinking. Without TC and semi auto GBs the drivers had alot more work to do and would get dehidrated much sooner.

[DaveKillens]

1) Ear plugs?

2) Emergency air supply to provide positive pressure inside the driver's helmet for a short period of time, in direct response to Lauda's accident in '76.
In the German GP at the long Nürburgring circuit, disaster struck. On the second lap of the race, Lauda's car swerved off the track, due to a suspected rear suspension failure, hit an embankment and rolled back into the path of Brett Lunger's Surtees-Ford car. Lauda's car burst into flames, but, unlike Lunger, he was trapped in the wreckage. Drivers Arturo Merzario and Guy Edwards arrived at the scene a few moments later, but before they and Lunger were able to pull Lauda from his car, he suffered severe burns to his head and inhaled hot toxic gases that damaged his lungs and blood. Although Lauda was conscious and able to stand immediately after the accident, he later lapsed into a coma and a priest administered the last rites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_Lauda

[zac510]

They definitely look like earplugs in the photo with AJ. I've got a little cylindrical thing just like it for ear plugs.

[RH1300S]

No question they are ear plugs MC. I have exactly the same cylinder on the zip of my leathers. Plugs are a sort of conforming foam - squeeze them, shove them in your ear and they sort of assume the right shape.

And yes, that is an air supply - AFIK no longer required

[manchild]

Thanks for the answers. I thought the same about air supply but had no idea about tubes on zippers and it still seams strange to to me why all of the drivers back than wore those tubes an nowadays no driver wears them? Cars are even louder than before

[Carlos]

Perhaps their radio earbuds use a denser foam than the consumer items we use with ipods and such - I often wear dense, yellow, foam earplugs when using noisy tools.

[RH1300S]

Yes Carlos - current F1 drivers have earplugs specially moulded to their ear shape and carrying the radio speaker.

I suppose you wouldn't see them carrying the plugs in tubes as they are effectively now part of the equipment and need to be plugged in - so, not something the driver carries around himself.

[zac510]

You sometimes see them pull them out of their ear and put them inside their helmet before they go into the post-race weight check.