Antonelli recounts cooling-vest failures and heat-stroke episode
Conceptual AI-generated editorial motorsport illustration; not a documentary photograph or evidence that a pictured event, meeting or transfer occurred. · 2026-10-12GPBeat newsroom · News Made Clear generated illustration
Antonelli says a pump failure circulated water at 50 degrees throughout a session in his 2025 rookie season; he said he suffered heat stroke afterwards.
Speaking in Singapore, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli said he did not use Formula 1’s standard cooling vest in 2026 after two bad experiences during his 2025 debut season. He recalled that, during one session, the pump system failed and circulated water at 50 degrees throughout; he said he suffered heat stroke afterwards.
His first experience also fell short: the vest stopped working sooner than he had hoped. Antonelli said he had since trained to improve his heat acclimatisation so he would not need the vest on race weekends.
He would welcome a better-developed system if drivers could trust it to work every time for the required duration, Antonelli said. For now, he sees too much uncertainty.
F1’s standard water-circulating vest followed heat-exhaustion symptoms among several drivers at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. When temperatures are expected to exceed 31°C, the FIA declares a heat hazard and drivers must use a vest or add 0.5kg of ballast to the car.
Other drivers have described benefits from partial or improved systems. Leclerc said he would value 15 to 20 laps of useful cooling; Ocon said his system helped him physically for about 40 minutes, while Sainz praised Williams’ development.
Sources 05
- SOURCE"It should be banned" - F1 drivers still divided over cooling vestsMotorsport.com F1
- PRIMARY SOURCEDoc 26 - Drivers' MeetingFIA F1 decision documents
- SOURCE"It should be banned" - F1 drivers still divided over cooling vestsAutosport
- SOURCEF1 drivers handed overwhelming support over thorny track design topicRacingNews365 English
- SOURCEIsack Hadjar calls for F1 cooling vests to be banned: "It's supposed to be tough"Motorsport.com F1
This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.
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