In the run-up to the start of pre-season testing Motorsport Week brings you left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserves that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
Formula 1 has now got used to the sight of Halo atop a driver’s cockpit, with the device introduced for 2018 in a bid to increase head protection.
It proved its value with the incidents involving Charles Leclerc in Belgium and Formula 2 racer Tadasuke Makino in Spain.
Formula 1 and the FIA pursued head protection through the early 2010s and Halo – the result of a Mercedes-led study – emerged as the favoured option.
A prototype was ready for 2016 and Kimi Raikkonen gave the system its first on-track test during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, prompting divisive reaction up and down the paddock.
It was also noted that a Ferrari sponsor featured prominently, while the next day the ‘FIA Action for Road Safety’ branding was visible instead…
Further tests of Halo took place through 2016, extensively in the latter half of the campaign, while Red Bull also trialled the quickly-abandoned ‘Aeroscreen’.
Halo’s introduction was deferred by a year, during which Ferrari briefly evaluated the ‘Shield’ option, before it was rubber-stamped into the regulations for 2018.
Halo is here to stay, with a second specification design underway, planned for introduction in 2021.
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