Toto Wolff says he would like to take a chainsaw to the halo head protection device, describing it as "not appealing" during the launch of Mercedes new car.
On Thursday morning Mercedes pulled the covers off of its W09 challenger at the Silverstone circuit, and like all the 2018 Formula 1 cars, it includes the FIA-mandated halo.
When asked for his thoughts on it, Wolff replied: "I’m not impressed with the whole thing and if you gave me a chainsaw I would take it off.
"I think we need to look after the driver’s safety but what we have implemented is aesthetically not appealing. We need to come up with a solution that simply looks better.
"It’s a massive weight on the top of the car, you screw up the centre of gravity massively. As much as it’s impressive to look at the statistic that you could put a bus on top, this is a Formula 1 car."
Wolff did concede that safety was paramount and tests showed that the halo would be beneficial in the majority of incidents.
"The FIA has thoroughly conducted all kinds of tests and possible scenarios and overall, the halo makes it much more safer for the driver," he added.
"Whether there are scenarios where a driver is trapped, probably these scenarios do exist, but overall it is safer with the halo than without the halo."
