New HALO system tested

[Mr_Thyroid]

BarbaricAvatar said:

People want to watch heroes in motorsport, not hairdressers.
If the drivers can't accept that there is a risk then they should be doing something else with their lives. Besides, if i was given the opportunity to drive a modern F1 car for a season with all the risks i'd grab the chance with both hands.
(Granted i'm more of a Maldonado than an Alonso, but i'd still love to do it)

I thought Jackie Stewart put this argument to bed 40 years ago?

[Blaster72]

Megaflow said:

I really struggle to see how this is going to help. There have been five accidents in recent years with fatal or serious injuries cause by being hit on the head:

Henry Surtees - Hit on top of the head by a wheel
Felipe Massa - Hit on the front of the head by a spring
Maria de Villota - Hit a tail lift
Jules Bianchi - Hit a wheel loader
Justin Wilson - Hit on top of the head by a front wing

Take a look at the over head view:



I don't believe this device would have helped Jules or Maria, very little will hitting something as solid as those. I can't see how a gaping hole like that above the driver would have helped Henry or Justin.

As far as I can see, the only person this *might* have helped is Felipe. And it would only require a trajectory change of a few mm's for there to be a very different outcome if it did help.

To be fair this is just Ferraris initial interpretation of what's needed, not the final design. It looks like this one is just to stop an errant wheel hitting the head, nothing else. They're just trying it out to get a feel for how it looks and how the drivers feel about it.

You have to applaud the F1 circus for at least trying different options like this rather than just playing the odds and hoping no one else gets killed.

I don't like the look of it but lets face it modern F1 cars are fugly as sin as it is.

[mollytherocker]

Krikkit said:

Actually it would - it's a deformable component which will seriously slow the jerk during deceleration. He would've had a head injury, but significantly less severe.

He hit a solid metal object, I doubt that device would have reduced the deceleration.

[BarbaricAvatar]

Mr_Thyroid said:

BarbaricAvatar said:

People want to watch heroes in motorsport, not hairdressers.
If the drivers can't accept that there is a risk then they should be doing something else with their lives. Besides, if i was given the opportunity to drive a modern F1 car for a season with all the risks i'd grab the chance with both hands.
(Granted i'm more of a Maldonado than an Alonso, but i'd still love to do it)

I thought Jackie Stewart put this argument to bed 40 years ago?

Get real.
Back then F1 cars didn't have the safety-cell and crash-structures that they do now. The risk is nowadays tiny, but there still is one. Remove the open-cockpit and they may as well be sat around a living room hosting Scalextric tournaments.

[Blaster72]

BarbaricAvatar said:

Get real.
Back then F1 cars didn't have the safety-cell and crash-structures that they do now. The risk is nowadays tiny, but there still is one. Remove the open-cockpit and they may as well be sat around a living room hosting Scalextric tournaments.

There is truth to this, what's the end game? Driver-less cars??

[mollytherocker]

Blaster72 said:

There is truth to this, what's the end game? Driver-less cars??

Its coming. Drone racing.

[Vaud]

mollytherocker said:

Blaster72 said:

There is truth to this, what's the end game? Driver-less cars??

Its coming. Drone racing.

If you treat aerospace as the cutting edge and add a delay of 10 years for flowdown, then yes...

[RYH64E]

Sixpackpert said:

Doink said:

Wrap a lexan screen around the front of it and it automatically looks better and you can still climb out the top of it, why are the FIA scared of screens? If its escaping while upside down then the halo on its own impedes that already

How do you keep the screen clean??

Surely it would be possible to engineer a variant of the rip offs used on driver's helmet visors?

[Megaflow]

RYH64E said:

Surely it would be possible to engineer a variant of the rip offs used on driver's helmet visors?

Already been done. That's exactly what the have on LMP1 cars in the WEC.

[ajprice]

Those rip offs could only be taken off at pit stops though, so maybe 2 films for the race, how many layers do the drivers usually have on their helmet visors?

[RYH64E]

ajprice said:

Those rip offs could only be taken off at pit stops though, so maybe 2 films for the race, how many layers do the drivers usually have on their helmet visors?

Surely it shouldn't be beyond the wit of F1 engineers to devise an in-race system? What do the on board cameras use?

[ajprice]

RYH64E said:

Surely it shouldn't be beyond the wit of F1 engineers to devise an in-race system? What do the on board cameras use?

I think they have a roll of clear plastic film in the pod, when it is dirty it winds on to the next clear part, like winding on the film in a 35mm camera.

[llewop]

Megaflow said:

Henry Surtees - Hit on top of the head by a wheel
Felipe Massa - Hit on the front of the head by a spring
Maria de Villota - Hit a tail lift
Jules Bianchi - Hit a wheel loader
Justin Wilson - Hit on top of the head by a front wing

This list is also a reminder that the issue and potential solutions isn't limited to F1. Henry Surtees was driving F2. So whatever solution is decided on should take into account other single seat series; but how far do you go? May seem disproportionate for a Formula Ford, but where is the cross-over/cut-off?

Hamilton's comment is also interesting - care would need to be taken to ensure the device is aero neutral or beneficial, otherwise if they could, drivers would elect to not use it for an advantage....

[satans worm]

Personally I don't like it, they called it a halo with some cool mocked up images but then just twisted a bit of roll cage around the cockpit, but for me the real question is where does this end?
If F1 has it, then all the below feeder series have to have the same surely , or are they allowed to take this risk?
Then if that's the case, how about carting? You don't need to be doing 180mph to feel a kick from a rogue spring or whatever, it's going to give you a headache at much lower speeds too.
The halo step is just too much for me, but I'm a caveman I guess, roll on 4 wheels and a canopy for motorbikes too.....

Doh, lllewop beat me to my point!

Edited by satans worm on Saturday 5th March 13:51

Edited by satans worm on Saturday 5th March 13:52

[rscott]

satans worm said:

Personally I don't like it, they called it a halo with some cool mocked up images but then just twisted a bit of roll cage around the cockpit, but for me the real question is where does this end?
If F1 has it, then all the below feeder series have to have the same surely , or are they allowed to take this risk?
Then if that's the case, how about carting? You don't need to be doing 180mph to feel a kick from a rogue spring or whatever, it's going to give you a headache at much lower speeds too.
The halo step is just too much for me, but I'm a caveman I guess, roll on 4 wheels and a canopy for motorbikes too.....

Doh, lllewop beat me to my point!

Edited by satans worm on Saturday 5th March 13:51

Edited by satans worm on Saturday 5th March 13:52

It's only a mockup unit to test driver visibility, rather than the finished unit.

[amgmcqueen]

This hideous device should be optional for the drivers surely? Not forced upon them to use it! Hamilton it seems is not a fan and I agree with what he's said.

[longshot]

Lewis has the luxury of being able to say anything he likes on the subject because it will either be implemented or it won't (there won't be an 'if you want to' option) and so Mercedes will have to fit it if they want to run and Lewis will have to use it if it's on his car if he wants to play, but saying what he has helps his image with his fans.

[markcoznottz]

Haven't most deaths/serious accidents been caused by poor circuit design and poor handling of the crash trackside? Presumably wilsons accident would be unlikely to happen in f1, the strike angle of a single seater on an oval can knock the whole nosecone off at mega mph with ultimately deadly results. Massa incident was pure freak, he was lucky. Wheel tethers have stopped wheels coming back at the driver, if the circuits were safer ie more use of high tech barriers, most people would be happier.

[Some Gump]

There is no fun whatsoever seeing someone hurt in Motorsport. You lot saying "people want to watch heroes" are just mind boggling - what is heroic about avoidable danger? That's stupidity, not heroism.

I get that the halo test mule is ugly, but modern f1 cars are already butt ugly with their rediculously proportioned wings and contrived noses. I'm still in agreement with Vettel - I'd rather see something slightly less aesthetically pleasing, and still be able to watch Justin Wilson take up the fight for the Brits in Indycar.

[deadslow]

Mr_Thyroid said:

BarbaricAvatar said:

People want to watch heroes in motorsport, not hairdressers.
If the drivers can't accept that there is a risk then they should be doing something else with their lives. Besides, if i was given the opportunity to drive a modern F1 car for a season with all the risks i'd grab the chance with both hands.
(Granted i'm more of a Maldonado than an Alonso, but i'd still love to do it)

I thought Jackie Stewart put this argument to bed 40 years ago?

yes, possibly driving the car in a bigger version of this:


wearing something like this: