While still researching the so-called “Halo” cockpit protection technology, FIA recently ran a simulation into Fernando Alonso’s scary crash from last year’s Australian Grand Prix, but with the halo mounted on.
Formula 1 fans surely recall this to be a hot topic last year, with lots of people (including F1 drivers) asking themselves how that particular accident might have went down if Alonso’s McLaren-Honda had been fitted with some type of cockpit protection.
One of the main worries was that the driver wouldn’t have had room to get out of the car, especially at the angle at which Alonso’s McLaren landed after spinning around multiple times through the air.
“We looked specifically at that accident when we did the halo study,” said FIA deputy race director and safety director Laurent Mekies. “We put one of our chassis upside down with a halo, we put Andy Mellor [consultant for the Global Institute for Motor Sport Safety] into it as the worst case scenario and we asked him to come out exactly in Fernando’s position and incredibly he did. So we feel in that case, the halo actually creates breathing space for the driver.”
“When we showed that to the drivers, they were not impressed with Andy’s speed to get out of the car, but they actually asked to try it before the halo is introduced so one day they will get that training.”
The halo could still be introduced in the 2018 season, as reported by Planet F1, although the FIA hasn’t finished its extensive research into the concept, research that includes taking existing incidents and recreating them on test cars fitted with the halo.
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