Abu Dhabi: Even as Lewis Hamilton continues to create waves in Formula One, father Anthony isn’t one to be left far behind. The senior Hamilton has just developed a revolutionary concept that will be put through its paces in the capital here.
Labelled as the ‘Info Wing’, the LED display system can be placed on the top of the air intake above the driver’s head and primarily provides race-position data. Using information supplied by race control, the data can also be displayed on who has set the fastest lap, tyre strategy and flag condition via multiple colours. In simple terms, spectators can get a better understanding and view of the car they are following.
Though Hamilton Sr. is not around for the season-ending finale where his son would be racing for the title, his invention will be tested on the Force India car during the two-day testing after the race.
Speaking about his invention in an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Hamilton Sr. said that being a keen motor racing fan, he would rather look at the car in the race than peer at an app to know what is happening and who is where. That’s what made him work on the project.
“I spent ages looking at images of the F1 cars, past and present, to try and identify where and what could be done to provide information displays on the car. The only space opportunity I could see was at the ends of the T bar camera mount, so this is where the idea for the Info Wing (TM) started.”
Anthony went on to add that he had started to work on the Info Wing (TM) concept since July this year and wasn’t sure how the Formula one teams would view the concept, so he approached his friend Robert Fernley , Deputy Team Principal at Force India for his advice.
“Robert immediately liked the idea and encouraged me to continue to develop the concept and offered his and Force India’s support. The prototype Info Wing (TM) display system was made and tested at Force India.
“This is still a test prototype to prove whether the LEDs can be visible on the car from the grandstands and on the TV. Assuming the test is a success, I will take what we have learnt from this MKII prototype and apply it to a new fully integrated Info Wings (TM) display system which includes not only the race position data, but also has a LED display for the driver’s name (three-letter display). The new version of the Info Wing(TM) Integrated will also contain three cameras.”
Though the response from the F1 governing body has been heartwarming towards this revolutionary concept, Anthony is keeping his fingers crossed and hoping that ‘Info Wing’ proves its worth.
“Both FOM and the FIA have been very positive and supportive, although I have still to prove that the Info Wing (TM) can deliver good viewing results before I can even hope to gain their seal of approval.”
