Thursday 4th July 2002
The West McLaren Mercedes Team will introduce new temperature
controlled team race suits which will be available for the remaining
Grands
Prix of the season. The specially made systems consist of a cooling unit,
a
liquid fed suit and a newly developed helmet, all of which have been
designed to ensure that the 28 team members involved in a pitstop remain
cool and focused while working in the fast paced and intense environment
of
the race.
The cooling suit is the result of a nine-month project which has been
developed in-house and in association with the team's Corporate Partner
Hugo
Boss and Med-Eng Systems Inc. Designed to supply full torso cooling
without
compromising user comfort, the all-weather suits provide a controlled
environment for the duration of a race. The final part of the new system
is
the bespoke helmet, which is a full-face design fitted with a flameproof
integral retractable visor.
Each suit has a strategically placed intricate network of tubes with the
coolant passing between a reflective silver outer covering and multiple
layers of Nomex. The technology has been derived directly from research
conducted by the European Space programme and carries the European Space
Agency (ESA) Technology Transfer logo.
The personal cooling technology is engineered by the Coretech division
of
Canada's Med-Eng Systems and is similar to the design flight certified for
use on board NASA's SPACE SHUTTLE, among other extreme temperature
environments,' explains Dr. Jean-Philippe Dionne, Sr. Research Engineer at
Med-Eng Systems. 'Integrating Coretech systems into the pit crew uniforms
will help mitigate the effects of heat stress including loss of
concentration and fatigue, thus improving safety and performance in F1
racing conditions. The West McLaren Mercedes team will be operating with
an
advantage through the system's ability to help maintain acceptable heart
rates and increase overall user comfort.'
The West McLaren Mercedes pitstop crew will debut the cooling suits during
Thursday's pitstop practice at Silverstone, which is scheduled to take
place