HALO Approved for 2018

[NathanOlder]

Quite frankly my quoting of Newey had only to do with the attractiveness because his job is not to make it pretty just fast.

I was just injecting a little levity in to an otherwise dull and cyclical argument about the halo.

As you say, no one is paid to make racing cars look pretty, only to make them fast.

In the case of the Halo, which does absolutely nothing for looks or performance, perhaps they could have hired a designer to make this safety device more aesthetically appealing? This thread wouldn't even exist if that hideously out-of-proportion device wasn't such an assault to the optic nerve.
Indy are in the process of proving that cockpit head protection CAN be a safety device AND look good.
A properly thought through device can achieve both of those objectives, but with a little more effort I'm sure it could also improve performance. Win, win, win!

That's all I wanted for christmas, and we got the Halo

[AJI]

That's all I wanted for christmas, and we got the Halo

I can't help but get the feeling that the designer not only thinks the Halo looks great, but Jean Todt is also chuffed that he has left his mark on every single F1 car in the field. Who would have thought that a major appendage to an F1 car started with a toddlers picture put on the fridge by a proud grandfather!

[NathanOlder]

Can I just ask, in the video with the FIA showing ssomeone climbing out of the cockpit, is it just me or does it seem like the airbox/roll hoop is a good 8 inches off the ground creating more room for a driver exit ?

yeah i must say i took time to check the video again and yes, it was held up - surprised me too.
then again, this 'test' was without an airbox and i feel like they were 'mimicking' the position it would have been with an airbox. not a good test then, i admit.

The car does have the air intake and roll hoop though so surely that part should be on the ground ? And would reduce the gap to exit the car a fair bit.

[Just_a_fan]

Indy are in the process of proving that cockpit head protection CAN be a safety device AND look good.
A properly thought through device can achieve both of those objectives, but with a little more effort I'm sure it could also improve performance. Win, win, win!

Indy have proved nothing about the screen's safety. Nothing. They've driven it and it was acceptable to the driver. That's it. When they show it deflecting heavy debris of any sort or deflecting a car, we can talk about "proving".

[adrianjordan]

I am disappointed that we haven't got any of the sleeker aero fairings that people like Sean Bull were adding to the Halo to make it less of an eye-soar.

Not surprised, but disappointed.

[AJI]

Indy are in the process of proving that cockpit head protection CAN be a safety device AND look good.
A properly thought through device can achieve both of those objectives, but with a little more effort I'm sure it could also improve performance. Win, win, win!

Indy have proved nothing about the screen's safety. Nothing. They've driven it and it was acceptable to the driver. That's it. When they show it deflecting heavy debris of any sort or deflecting a car, we can talk about "proving".

In the process of proving were my exact words. NOTHING has been proven about the effectiveness of the Halo in a real world scenario. Literally nothing.
Unless of course you consider a test that wasn't repeated under the same conditions on any other option to be proof? Seriously, mythbusters do a better job and they are pathetically inept.

[zac510]

I just caught a look at the Formula E car with the halo and got the impression that the halo looks much better when the airbox/roll hoop is much smaller.

Unfortunately in F1 the current trend and rules are for quite large airboxes so the area around the driver's head is very cluttered.

Perhaps even just the removal of the roll hoop T-camera could help a lot.

[Just_a_fan]

I am disappointed that we haven't got any of the sleeker aero fairings that people like Sean Bull were adding to the Halo to make it less of an eye-soar.

Not surprised, but disappointed.

That would be the difference between graphic design and aerodynamic design. One is made up, the other isn't.

Mercedes and a couple of others have created halos with fairings that don't have "bits" added to them. They look better but...

[strad]

Since so many are so concerned with safety I have to wonder what the hell you care what it looks like.

[zac510]

Since so many are so concerned with safety I have to wonder what the hell you care what it looks like.

We want our cake and to eat it too!

[johnny comelately]

There is a potential danger with starts with the halo obstructing vision of stalled/ slow cars

[zac510]

I wonder if people went this crazy when they started putting roofs onto cars.

(Honestly I don't like the HALO either but I'm constantly amused by people's furious reactions to it.)

[garygph]

I am not sure if this has been discussed already, if so my apologies.

Am I the only person who is concerned about the aero guide vanes on the Halo becoming carbon spears if debris hits it, or a roll over, another car ( Raikkonen/Alonso type collision) and so on? https://f1tcdn.net/gallery/var/resizes/ ... r1/013.jpg

[strad]

there was a time not so long ago when half the attraction for the drivers was facing danger.
Still is for many ...Look at my quote from Burt Munro :

You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in a lifetime

reminds me of a conversation with some of my drag racing friends where we decided there weren't many things in this world that are really fun if you can't get killed doing it.
Back when I had my dragster I wanted to trim it out to run on the salt so I could make the 200mph club. Sadly the idea got nixed. I'd give a lot to have gotten that patch and every year there are many that feel the same way.

[Jolle]

I am not sure if this has been discussed already, if so my apologies.

Am I the only person who is concerned about the aero guide vanes on the Halo becoming carbon spears if debris hits it, or a roll over, another car ( Raikkonen/Alonso type collision) and so on? https://f1tcdn.net/gallery/var/resizes/ ... r1/013.jpg

(small) carbon parts are too light to have any energy to penetrate the drivers suits (3-ply nomex), belts with HANS or their helmets.

Carbon looks heavy and solid, when you hold it it's more like paper.