Canopy would not have helped Bianchi says Lowe, Alonso disagrees

(GMM) Paddy Lowe on Thursday said he doubts a covered cockpit would have helped the now seriously injured Jules Bianchi last Sunday at Suzuka.

Since the Frenchman ploughed into a recovery vehicle with devastating effects, there have been renewed calls for the sport to look into mandating forward roll bars or strong canopies to better protect the drivers' exposed heads.

But Mercedes team boss Lowe argues that such a device would not have helped Bianchi at Suzuka.

"If the rollbar was torn off (in Bianchi's crash)," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "then having more debris around the head could have been even more dangerous." [Editor's note: Roll bars are not designed to be strong in shear, they are designed for compression during rollovers to stop the driver from being crushed by the weight of the car on his head.]

Fernando Alonso, however, said F1 needs to look into the possibility of covered cockpits in the wake of the Bianchi crash.

He said he could have easily been killed in 2012, when Romain Grosjean's flying Lotus came perilously close to his helmet at Spa.