Isack Hadjar calls for ban on divisive piece of F1 equipment

Isack Hadjar has called for cooling vests to be banned from F1 entirely, arguing that drivers should not be shielded from the sport's toughest physical demands.

The Red Bull driver was speaking ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, a race long associated with extreme heat and humidity inside the cockpit.

Asked for his verdict on the device, Hadjar did not hold back.

"I think it should be banned." Asked why, the Frenchman explained: "It [F1] is supposed to be tough."

The driver cooling system works by pumping chilled fluid from an onboard store or heat exchanger through narrow tubes built into a fireproof vest worn under the race suit.

The FIA introduced formal regulations for the equipment ahead of the 2025 season, following the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, when cockpit temperatures exceeded 50 degrees Celsius, leaving drivers across the field vomiting inside their helmets and needing treatment at the medical centre.

Under current rules, a heat hazard is declared when the FIA's forecast heat index surpasses 31.0°C. That triggers a mandatory requirement for teams to fit the cooling hardware to the car, but wearing the vest itself remains optional.

Any driver who chooses not to wear it must carry 0.5kg of ballast in the cockpit to cancel out any weight advantage.

That optionality has split the grid. Max Verstappen has also opted out on heat hazard weekends, citing restricted movement from the cables and tubing and doubts that any system can keep fluid genuinely cool for a full race distance.

George Russell has pushed the opposite case, campaigning for wider use and regulatory backing, after Mercedes struggled to run a reliable installation amid competing engineering priorities.

The technical complaints are not without foundation. The circulating fluid has been reported to warm up after 20 to 40 minutes of running, turning what is meant to be a cooling aid into a layer of hot liquid against the skin.

Kimi Antonelli suffered a pump failure in the United States Grand Prix in Austin last year that saw water at roughly 50 degrees Celsius circulate through his vest, leaving him with heat stroke.