The new Formula 1 Halo
?I?m not impressed with the Formula 1 Halo, and if you gave me a chainsaw I would take it off,? announced Toto Wolff at the Mercedes car launch earlier this year. ?As impressive as the statistics are of the Halo withstanding the weight of a London bus on top of it, this is a Formula 1 car, whether it has a bus on top or not.?
Whether you agree with Wolff or not, the Halo improves driver safety and in today?s era, that means it?s here to stay. But it?s not just Formula 1 that is adopting head protection systems, Halos are now raced in Formula 2 and have been integrated into Formula E?s Season 5 car, with Indycar opting for an aero screen solution. The time has come to accept that these structures are now part of modern day racing, the challenge now is to optimise the Halo?s appearance and most importantly, it?s performance. Top: Indycar’s aero screen Bottom: Season 5 Formula E car
The engineering approach to integrating the Formula 1 Halo has been ?damage limitation? and the challenge of minimising the vast performance losses of the Halo has caused major headaches for the teams. Not only have teams had to minimise the aerodynamic losses of the turbulent wake flowing into the engine air intake and onto the rear wing, but they have also had to completely redesign their monocoques. Teams had to strengthen their chassis to pass the FIA crash safety tests where both the Halo and chassis have to withstand the equivalent weight of a double decker bus.

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