Monday, December 11, 2017

F1: Halo to Formula 1's Crapwagons era...



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...


"After Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault rolled to a stop on Lap 26, his crew radioed it wasn’t safe to hop out; instead, he was instructed to walk down the nose and jump – signalling a KERS failure which had left the chassis electrically-charged."
(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?