The fight to defeat an F1 driver's greatest enemy

For a long time, fire was a Formula 1 driver's greatest enemy. One of the most persistent arguments against introducing seatbelts was the view that it was better to be thrown out of the cockpit in an impact than to be trapped within a flaming car.

Tireless work by the FIA and clothing manufacturers eventually produced a solution that's now so closely woven into the fabric of motor racing that you'd be forgiven for forgetting it's even there.

But make no mistake, a racing driver's suit, boots, underwear and gloves are designed to save lives, and the FIA documentation outlining the standards they have to meet (number 8856-2000 if you want to look it up) extends to a staggering 76 pages.

There can be no shortcuts and no risks. Racing a car with 105kg of highly combustible fuel located right behind your spine warrants every precaution. The FIA stipulates that a driver's overalls must undergo both a fire and a heat-resistance test, each occupying an 11-second time frame. That dovetails with the mandatory extraction test: the maximum time a driver has to evacuate the cockpit.

Key to all this is Nomex, a fire-resistant, lightweight artificial fibre used in every element of a driver's protective gear. The same material is used by firefighters and is also worn by the US military.

Alpinestars is one of a select group of manufacturers who produce apparel that complies with the regulations, and our recent visit to their laboratory in Asolo, at the foot of the Dolomites in the north of Italy, revealed not only the rigour of its testing processes, but also an associated challenge: making the finished items as light and comfortable as possible.

"There is a mesh middle and inner layer that is less structured than the outer later and provides breathability and comfort; the outer layer gives the suit its form and strength," explains Alpinestars' communications director Jeremy Appleton. "Everything we produce undergoes a rigorous fire and heat test."

The company performs the tests itself, but to even higher levels than the regulations demand. At the laboratory, we watch as a patch of racesuit material is subjected to a naked flame at a temperature of 650°C. The fabric holds out for an incredible 30 seconds with almost no damage to the middle and inner layers.

Similarly, a heat test ensures that in a 1000°C flame, the temperature recorded on the other side of the material does not increase by more than 24°C in 11 seconds. Once again, the sample comfortably conforms to the required standard. It's just as well: this is the sort of thing that could make the difference between life and death.

There's another safety aspect to race overalls that's not entirely obvious. The shoulder epaulettes aren't there as a fashion statement. If a driver is unconscious, they provide a vital function, allowing marshals to grip them to pull the driver clear of the car.

For this reason, the material must not rip when pulled, so there is a further FIA test to ensure structural rigidity under a significant force. The epaulettes are required to withstand a force of 300 Newtons, but in the Asolo lab the samples resist tearing at double the required force: 600N.

On the same site as the Alpinestars laboratory is the factory where the boots, gloves, overalls and underwear are made. Here, 120 technicians and craftsmen work on the latest designs and equipment, not only for F1 but also for the many other racing disciplines Alpinestars supplies, such as MotoGP, NASCAR and motocross.

In one corner, a mechanical leg fitted with a Supermono shoe simulates a stepping motion. In total, it will take 100,000 steps, or around 31 miles - although this can be increased to 155 miles over many days...

CAD (computer aided design) is used by the designers to draw items such as the all-in-one Supermono shoe in 2D and 3D, and the computers are linked up to an automated cutting machine. This enables a great degree of customisation: over three hours, plus another hour for the bonding process to cure and cool, they run out a bespoke set of F1 Racing Supermono shoes to demonstrate the process.

At the cutting machine, kangaroo leather (which is lighter than cowhide) is bonded with Nomex and stitched together. The leather is then glued to the sole, which is made from lightweight treated rubber for grip and flexibility. Every aspect of the shoe is continually refined and improved to reduce weight. Even the Velcro strap has had holes drilled into it to save a few grams.

Alpinestars currently provides protective gear for half the F1 teams - Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas and Force India. On our visit we see early drawings for a new set of overalls for Sergio Perez, the arm of a Kevin Magnussen racesuit being stitched together, and a set of race boots being made for Romain Grosjean.

Factory staff tend to know which driver is about to be signed to which team before anyone else does, since a driver's overalls are created ahead of a team's launch or test. "Yes, we often do," confirms Appleton, with a smile, "but we obviously have a strict protocol in terms of confidentiality."

Trackside technicians from across the range of sports in which Alpinestars' athletes compete feed back their findings to the R&D team every Monday in a process aimed at improving products. "That could be adjusting the shape or size of the shoe for the pedal box design, or for comfort," explains Appleton. "All the time we're trying to balance the breathability of our products, while bringing down weight."

The factory also contains machinery to test for wear. In one corner, a mechanical leg fitted with a Supermono shoe simulates a stepping motion. In total, it will take 100,000 steps, or around 31 miles, although this can be increased to 155 miles over many days. Technicians will look for the point at which the shoe starts to deteriorate, be that in the stitching or in the leather, and then refine the design or construction process to counter any weaknesses.

The company has come a long way since it was founded in 1963 by shoemaker Sante Mazzarolo. He began by developing protective footwear for motocross, expanded into motorcycling and skiing boots, and by 1993 made his initial foray into F1 when Minardi's Christian Fittipaldi became the first driver to wear Alpinestars gear at races. Alpinestars has since grown to employ 650 people worldwide, with offices in Los Angles and Tokyo.

The name of the company is the English translation of the flower stella alpina, better known as 'edelweiss', the highest flowering plant in the Alps. Each spring, climbers would compete to find the first flowering edelweiss. "It's a suitable metaphor for our company today in that we still meet the challenge of being first to achieve the highest standards," says Appleton.

To the casual observer it might seem as if Nomex-based racesuits have barely changed since the material was first introduced. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like every other aspect of F1 safety, apparel is undergoing a continuous process of improvement in which established standards are regularly challenged and boundaries explored.