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LinkedInHalo design to be made thinner
The FIA is exploring ways to reduce the thickness of the Halo protection system, which is set to be brought in to Formula 1 next year.
The Halo device will be mandatory for all teams to run from next season, after the FIA announced it was the preferred cockpit safety system. After the Shield device failed to impress, the body confirmed Halo ‘presents the best overall safety performance’.
The Halo attracted criticism from some corners, with Mercedes non-executive charman Niki Lauda being one notable critic. However, the FIA is confident that the design of Halo will improve before its introduction next year, and says it is testing a version with a narrower central pillar.
“The central strut is currently 20mm,” FIA safety director Laurent Mekies said. “We feel that we have scope to reduce that thickness for the benefit of the drivers’ forward vision. So we will be testing before next year, going as low as 16mm, and see how much we can push it.”
The FIA, meanwhile has given permission for teams to undertake further track tests of the device on race weekends in the second half of 2017, said F1 race director Charlie Whiting.
