When watching an F1 race on television, have you ever felt that the driver’s gloves look like more than just ordinary fireproof gloves?
In fact, they are.
Those gloves are advanced safety equipment fitted with sensors that can monitor things like heart rate and blood oxygen levels.
This time, for beginners, let us explain the question, “Why are there sensors in the gloves?” by looking at the technology inside them as a way of protecting a driver’s life.
│Gloves are not just fireproof gear
First of all, F1 driver gloves are designed with several important features.
They use Nomex, a flame-resistant fibre, and are built with the idea that they must withstand extremely high temperatures.
They are also shaped to fit all the way to the fingertips so that the driver can maintain the delicate feeling needed to control the steering wheel.
In other words, they are not only there to protect the driver’s hands from fire.
They are also gear that protects the driver’s ability to operate the car properly.
In 2015, Carlos Sainz crashed heavily into the barriers at the Russian Grand Prix.
He escaped without life-threatening injuries, but the incident again highlighted the need for a system that would allow medical teams to understand a driver’s condition more quickly after an accident.
In response, the FIA launched a project that aimed to place biometric sensors inside gloves.
The sensor was only about 3 mm thick and sewn into the palm area of the glove.
At the early stage, the main measurements included:
- heart rate
- blood oxygen level (pulse oximetry)
The idea was that this data could be sent wirelessly to the medical team.
Because of that, even immediately after a crash, medical staff could receive information such as:
- What is the driver’s pulse like?
- Is the oxygen level stable?
│Why put the sensor in the gloves?
So why use the gloves?
The reasons are easier to understand if we break them down.
- If a driver crashes and cannot get out of the car, or is drifting in and out of consciousness, being able to check their physical condition from outside makes the response faster.
- Gloves are something a driver is already wearing all through the race, so there is less need to attach a separate piece of equipment.
- By building the sensor into the gloves, data can be collected from a natural part of the driver’s body while they are operating the steering wheel.
That means the system combines both safety and practicality.
│Invisible safety inside the gloves
If someone asks, “Aren’t F1 gloves just fireproof gloves?”
the answer is really no.
They are high-tech gloves that can also function as life-protecting data equipment.
They are designed to capture the driver’s pulse and oxygen condition in real time during a sudden accident, so that the medical team can react faster.
This is one more example of how F1 keeps pushing toward higher levels of safety.