F1 feature: Halo, it’s here
LIKE IT OR NOT, FROM 2018 HALO COCKPIT PROTECTION WILL FORM A PART OF EVERY FORMULA ONE CAR...
...AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF RACE FANS DON’T LIKE IT.
Halo’s undeniable ugliness has been the major fuel igniting hostile comment across media platforms but, apart from its looks, the system has also been criticised for interfering with F1’s open-cockpit DNA. Critics say this is no longer Grand Prix racing as the sport’s followers know and love it.
The harsh reality is that such well-intentioned and forceful objections are a waste of time. The sport’s governing body, the FIA, found itself between a rock and a hard place from the moment it was announced that action needed to be taken to increase head protection. Had nothing been done with the subsequent occurrence of further serious head injury, motor racing would be torn to pieces for failing to act on an area previously identi ed as having a safety shortcoming.
HALO'S HISTORY Head protection appeared on the agenda in 2009 when Henry Surtees, son of former world champion John, was killed by a loose wheel in a Formula Two race. Just over a week later, Felipe Massa received life-threatening injuries when struck on the head by a loose spring during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
When Jules Bianchi suffered what would turn out to be a fatal collision with a recovery vehicle during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, the subject was raised again, even though a subsequent investigation found that cockpit protection would have made no difference to the Manor driver’s injuries. In 2015, Justin Wilson was killed by debris from another car during an Indycar race and prompted the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association to call for extra protection. This followed four years after Dan Wheldon had died of head injuries sustained when his airborne Indycar hit a fence post.
All of this merely accelerated research that had already been started by the FIA and prompted a deadline for the 2017 F1 season. Amid concerns that Halo was being rushed through without proper testing at various circuits (checking, for example, visibility on steep climbs such as Eau Rouge at Spa-francorchamps), it was agreed to postpone introduction until 2018. Spa did not prove to be a problem and tests have shown that a driver’s vision is actually restricted more inside the cockpit of an LMP1 World Endurance Racing sportscar.
As work with the Halo continued, a wrap-around windscreen (known as Shield) made its first appearance on Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari during practice for this year’s British Grand Prix. When the championship leader reported distorted vision and a feeling of giddiness – and with a design deadline for 2018 cars looming – Shield was shelved, leaving Halo as the only viable option. It was either this, or face another season without addressing a previously highlighted problem.