FIA race director Charlie Whiting says F1 teams will be able to tweak the design of the halo to make it look better for the 2018 season, Motorsport reports.
Discussing the controversial head protection device at the Hungary Grand Prix, Whiting said the halo itself will be a standard part provided to teams but that aerodynamic fairings can be added to it in an effort to negate any aero issues it may cause.
“I’m sure that they will look more pleasing to the eyes. They have to use the standard Halo, that will be from a single supplier. We will allow them to use non-structural fairings around the upper part, which can be no more than 20mm from the main structure.
“I think there’s an overall width restriction, and I think there’s a restriction on how far they can encroach on the cockpit opening. But 20mm is quite lot all the way around, and they can do what they like with that,” Whiting said.
Interestingly, the FIA said that the much-more-attractive shield tested by Sebastian Vettel hasn’t been scrapped entirely and that a similar solution could be introduced in the future.
“The underlying factor that the Shield was designed to offer a lower level of protection compared to Halo so it would typically not pass the wheel tests [wheel hitting it at 225 km/h]. And we would also know with this type of device there were other complications linked to visibility, dirt, rain, etc.
“We felt that we had to explore it, and again perhaps one day we get to enough strength to reach the target,” FIA safety director Laurent Mekies said.
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