Among many glorious sights and sounds, the moral and practical dilemma of single-seater cockpit protection is demonstrated graphically at the Goodwood Revival. Here we have the past overriding the present as drivers take to this fast and tricky track in pre-1966 racing cars that predate safety in even its most rudimentary form.
The difference between now and then is that every conceivable precaution has been taken to rescue and assist anyone who hits trouble; the trackside well-being of drivers having come a long way since enthusiastic and largely amateur first-aiders in tents.
But that does not prevent racers climbing into cars exactly as they were in period with the height of roll-over bar head protection literally stopping just above the neck. Some owners and competitors have chosen to add tubular security towering above the driver; it may be commendably safe but detracts completely from the former graceful lines of the fifty-year-old machine. And there you have an aspect of today's cockpit protection predicament in historic terms.
Yet, when the subject of today's F1 cockpits was raised at a Credit Suisse media briefing on Saturday morning, the question of appearance was hardly mentioned. The discussion among the likes of Sir Stirling Moss, Dario Franchitti and David Brabham touched on more fundamental aspects such as safety and a sense of social responsibility.
"I've lost three friends through having had contact with the helmet," said Franchitti, former Indy champion and 500 winner. "As a purist, I really struggle with the Halo, or whatever. Having lost those friends, the answer is obvious. But if you watch the cars of today and compare them to 20 years ago, you are aware that the lower cockpit sides meant you could really see these men at work and appreciate exactly what they were doing. Gradually the sides have got higher and higher. Ayrton Senna's death [in 1994] was the instigator and I know for a fact that the higher cockpit sides have saved my life -- twice. But where does it stop? I'm afraid I don't have the answer."
"I think Dario's right," said David Brabham, who lost his Simtek team-mate Roland Ratzenberger at Imola on the same weekend as Senna's fatal crash. "The purist in us will probably say 'No'. It is single-seater racing and if you start putting in all this cockpit stuff, it becomes, in some respects, a sports car. I haven't had the issues experienced by Dario when losing people from head injuries. But my feeling is that we can take this too far and then we lose what racing is about.
"The Halo, for example, would never have saved Roland. You're never going to get rid of the chance of someone dying in a racing car. We go racing because we love it and we're all aware of the risks. If you don't think it's safe and that bothers you, then don't do it. But we all still get in the car and that's what drives us; we want to push the limits and see what is out there. What are the boundaries? What is the risk?"
No one in the room was better qualified to comment on risk than Sir Stirling Moss whose period in racing (1948 to 1962) was a litany of tragedy.
"I'm not in favour [of the halo and similar suggestions]," said Moss. "No one should go into the sport thinking it's safe, because it isn't; the driver can make mistakes; the car can break. I was someone who went racing because it was dangerous. Drivers should know what they can do and stick within their limits."
Moss had toned down his response when compared to interviews elsewhere when he had branded the Halo as 'absolutely ridiculous'. None the less, his comment at Goodwood was no surprise. Even though his career was cut short by an accident at this very circuit on Easter Monday 1962, he is one of the few survivors of the period, a point taken up by Derek Bell whose experience embraces everything from single-seaters to Le Mans-winning sports cars.
"You look around at the drivers present and think how lucky we are to still be here," said Bell. "And yet none of us are nutcases. We're just pretty normal people and we just love racing cars. We'll go out here in whatever it is and someone could ask: 'What the hell are you doing going round Goodwood in that?' But that's what we do and love.
"We knew the dangers in an era when so many drivers died. Motor racing is so much safer today but, if you keep making it safer, the drivers are going to keep taking chances; pushing each other off the road. We wouldn't have dared do that in our day. But you see it more and more. It's as if there's a lack of respect for your fellow driver. That's not a correct mind set -- in any era.
"Getting back to the question of single-seater cockpit protection, it's such a difficult subject. Like Dario, I don't dismiss it completely. But, in truth, I really don't know the answer."