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Originally Posted by D.R.T.
Correct me if I am wrong here - but open wheel descriptor refers to the wheels being outside the body work and not covered rather than reference to the cockpit no?
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Tehcnically, yes, but the term 'open-wheel' is an Americanism for the vehicles Europe call single-seaters. The latter are traditionally open cockpit.
Of course, not all open cars are open-wheeled as a lot of sports and clubmans categories have bodywork which encloses the wheels but not the cockpit. More confusingly, Indycars are referred to as open-wheeled but with all the gaps between them being closed they're only marginally so.
It is a fair point that the days of what we think of as a pure racing car are probably numbered. If F1 goes to covered cockpits as a safety issue the lawyers would have a field day with other modern categories that don't should an accident occur. They'll have no choice but to follow suit soon after.