Alex Albon has branded Williams’ cooling vest as “the best on the grid”, following a comfortable Singapore Grand Prix for the British-Thai driver.
A Heat Hazard was declared for the Marina Bay race, meaning drivers had a choice between wearing a cooling vest or having the corresponding ballast added to their car. This regulation stems from a strenuous 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, where a number of racers suffered from heat exhaustion.
The decision was a no-brainer at Williams. Albon’s race was tough – brake overheating forced him into substantial management and eventually had to retire late on – but he still had something to smile about on Sunday night.
Asked how he was feeling after the race, which was run with 30C ambient temperature and up to 78% humidity, Albon said: “Very good, actually.
“I have to say as a team, we've really done a good job with our cooling suit. My cooling suit wasn't working for the first 10 laps, and I thought it was going to be a long race. Then it turned on and it was very comfortable.
“I know a lot of drivers are against it. Some teams can't make it work. With all the issues we've got this year, our cooling suit is the best on the grid. I'm quite happy with it.”
Alexander Albon, Williams, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images
This corroborated team-mate Carlos Sainz’s take on the matter early in the weekend: “If there's one thing as a team we've done well on development this year is the cooling vest, which has definitely given Alex and me a good time inside the car. We're very happy to have it.”
Other drivers made it clear in the Thursday media sessions that they weren’t enjoying the device as much.
Pierre Gasly said he had “no need for it”, and Isack Hadjar went further, stating “it should be banned” because “it's supposed to be tough”.
While Hadjar’s stance was very much ideological, pertaining to his view of what F1 should be, Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen concurred for much more practical reasons.
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"It should be banned" - F1 drivers still divided over cooling vests“For me it's not needed,” Verstappen said. “Yes it's hot, but it's not a sauna, and with this cooling vest you have these stupid cables in your car, so it's just limiting your movement as well.
“I don't need it. Even if it would work for one-and-a-half hours, like cool cool, I don't need it. It doesn't work anyway for one-and-a-half hours. I think never in any category it has worked for one-and-a-half hours.”
Pierre Gasly, Alpine, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT images via Getty Images
The main reason why the cooling vest isn’t everyone’s cup of tea is its tendency to quickly get warm indeed – sometimes as hot as Britain’s favourite beverage.
“When I wore it last year, I had very two bad experiences,” Kimi Antonelli recounted. “The first time it didn't work as long as we hoped for, the second time the pump system failed. It was in Austin, and I did the whole session with the system pumping the water at 50C. I suffered a heat stroke after the session, so it wasn't very pleasant. Ever since, I was like, you know what, I'm going to train hard so I don't have to use it for the weekends.
“If it's developed, if we get to a point where it's developed and we have the confidence that it's going to work every time and for the time that we need to, I think it's very nice because it definitely keeps you cool. But now there's so much uncertainty, we're not so sure – imagine you go on Sunday, you put it on and after 30 minutes it doesn't work anymore and just, hot water is even worse. So on that side, I just want to be sure that it's going to be fine, that it's going to be well-developed, and then when we have the confidence, maybe I will put it.”
There may be no more Heat Hazards this season anyway, based on the current forecasts for this weekend’s Austin round; the only remaining realistic opportunity of ambient temperature exceeding 31C would then be the Qatar Grand Prix, which is at risk of cancellation due to the Iran war.
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