Is Halo really the ultimate solution for Driver
Safety in Formula 1?
At the risk of repeating Thyself. Obviously I
do not wish for any current, or future racing driver, in any category of
motorsports to be seriously injured or worse yet suffer fatal injury from
participating in a motor racing event.
When I originally heard the news that the FIA
had Ram Rodded; Uhm, implemented the mandatory usage of the controversial HALO
system for 2018 in Formula 1, I was so despondent, I simply put out a meager
paragraph on No Fenders denoting this last July.
Yet
what I left out of that riveting blog post, and have kept silent on 'til now,
is my Disgust over what I simply perceive as Jean Todt's ultimate Hypocrisy!
Since after all, Monsieur Todt's "Pet Project" during his first two
terms as FIA President has been Road Safety.
Yet,
how could Monsieur Todt let 'lil sid viddle get off with nothing more than a
slap upon his wrist after deliberately crashing into Lewis Hamilton at Baku
under a Safety Car period during this year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix!
I
mean Sebastian Vettel had already gotten away with bringing the sport into disrepute
when telling Charlie Whiting to FUCK OFF! Not once but twice, when not getting
his way at Mexico in 2016.
And
then in what can clearly be nothing more than a case of Road Rage, Jean Todt
says move along people, I cannot even find my ruler to wrap the German's
knuckles with after his car apparently "swerved" sideways towards
Hamilton's Mercedes...
Which
simply leads me to believe that in a desperate attempt to "Save
Face," Monsieur Todt has come up with mandating this horrendous Halo
contraption, while playing the "safety Card."
Yet
since I'm visually impaired; Err Blind! I haven't been able to SEE what Halo
truly looks like, other than what the word conjures up in Thy Mind's eye, i.e.;
a round circular shape atop the driver's heads...
(Source: blackbird-autojournal.com)
Now I'll remind
Y'all once again that I'm NOT an Engineer, and I like to believe that these
aspects have already been considered by the much smarter, clever, astute and
pragmatic folks of the FIA, its vaunted Technical "Working Group" and
the Formula 1 community in whole...
Like I said above, I've perceived Halo being
a round composite structure, akin to a toilet seat being placed overhead the
driver's helmet, envisioning a hideous looking horseshoe shaped "Habit'
connecting to the corresponding Airbox structure. Along with knowing the front
or leading "edge" is affixed to a post/pole in front of the driver's
line of vision.
Thus what I'd really like to know, and am
concerned about is, what happens in the case of an unintended incident as noted
above occurring in Mexico City this past October to Nico Hulkenberg, who needed to
escape his electrified vehicle by hopping down his Renault RS17's nose.
As the KERS System, which I believe is now
known as ERS; the most controversial portion of today's modern F1 Chassis,
ISN'T going away in 2018! And in fact, I believe stays unchanged until the end
of 2020...
As how does a driver extricate himself from
said vehicle without touching the Halo apparatus? And worse yet, keep from imp
ailing Thyself upon the safety device's post?
And if there is
some sort of Quick release mechanism to detach Halo, what's to prevent it from
accidently disconnecting itself? A la fire extinguisher bottles that are accidently
triggered inside F1 cockpits...
And that's before I even bring up the issue
of the current FIA Rule requiring drivers to be able to extricate themselves
from an F1 cockpit in five seconds...
Yet according to the Daily Mail's
Matt Malby, McLaren recently tested a
Mini Wing element atop it's Halo concept, for which he described the Halo being
of a Wishbone shape instead.
Which makes me wonder about the
"Safety" of said extra wing element, and what happens if it detaches
and strikes a trailing driver? As note how other portions of this year's F1
Chassis have managed to detach themselves during races.
And that's before I wonder how inclement
weather will effect drivers vision or various electronic components? From the possibility
of spray or streams of water dribbling off the various Halo components; Since
water has a nasty habit of finding itself into places not expected.
Alas, is Halo really needed? Or is it just a byproduct
of Jean Todt trying to cement his legacy as FIA President and doing something
during his tenure?