Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff gave very different assessments of the new Halo safety system when asked about it at the launch of the team’s new car.
Asked if he was impressed with what he’d seen of the structure Wolff said he’s “not impressed with the whole thing and if you give me a chainsaw I would take it off.”
“It’s a massive weight on the top of the car, you screw up the centre of gravity massively with the thing and as much as it’s impressive to look at the statistic that you could put a bus on top, this is a Formula One car, whether you put a bus on top or not.”
However Wolff endorsed the work which had gone in to ensuring Halo offers a step forward for driver safety.
“The FIA has very thoroughly conducted all kind of test and possible scenarios,” he said. “And overall the Halo makes it much more safe for the driver.”
“Where there is scenarios where a drivers is trapped, probably very few scenarios exist, but overall it is safer with the Halo than without the Halo.”
Hamilton, who described F1’s final race without Halo in 2017 as ‘the last time the cars will look good’, said Mercedes had done the best they could to improve the appearance of the device.
“Honestly I think the team have done a great job to integrate it and make it look as nice as it can look,” he said.
“It’s a fact, something we’ve known for some time is coming. It’s the beginning of the season, I think it’s the beginning of the season, I think after a few races we’ll forget it’s even there.”
“We’ll look at the old car and think it’s so dated. This is the new one now, I’m sure it’s only the first step of evolution and development for this safety safety level. But it is heavy, the cars are getting heavier. It’s a big car, but it’s streamlined as much as it can be.”
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MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
22nd February 2018, 16:21
That is what actually bothers me most. There is nothing refined about any halo solution. The damn thing looks exactly the same as the first time a ‘prototype’ was stuck on a car after the fact for some installation lap. There isn’t even any sort of integration into the cockpit sidewalls. Its in no way well proportioned or integrated into any design. Its just stuck on top of the car in all its dreadfull g(l)ory. ….Member the first halo concept by Mercedes? Sure looks gorgeous now, doesn’t it?
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd February 2018, 8:29
Hm, @mrboerns, when I read this piece, i rather fear that the difference is not about looks – if they cared about looks we would never have had T-Wings, probosics noses, stepped noses, Bus-profile “shark-fins” etc.
No, I fear that the real issue Mr. Wolff has with the halo is simply in what he says after commenting the looks:
And that is – it raises the weigth, and the centre of gravity, both hurt performance.
In other words, a team boss being unhappy with safety devices getting in the way of flimsy cars.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
23rd February 2018, 11:36
There is a difference between looking aesthetically pleasing or not (your issue) and looking refined/adapted into a car or not (my issue). Also ask kubica about these Cars being flimsy. People Act as if the halo was the only Thing Standing between f1 being totally safe and being a gory bloodrush. Even the fai admitted the halo was less about safety Than it was about the fai Saving Face
marksch (@marksch)
22nd February 2018, 16:25
No this is one thing I for one will never get used to and will vote with my cash.
#FormulaStupid
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
22nd February 2018, 16:34
Hamilton is a legendary driver but I disagree with his view point on just about everything.
DrG
22nd February 2018, 21:12
@twentyseven
What – you do not think the cars are heavy enough?
You want more weight perhaps and particularly if it’s up high?
There is another class of racing you should watch!
Honestly – do people ever think before they write on here…
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
23rd February 2018, 22:50
They were Wolff’s points, not Hamilton’s.
David
22nd February 2018, 17:07
I still am not sold on the halo. It is hard enough getting out of a car the way it was. All it will take is one fatality from a driver unable to extricated from a crash due to the halo, to rethink the ‘safety’ beyond the aesthetics.
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
23rd February 2018, 22:50
Have you tried getting out of one these cars both with and without the halo?
TEDBELL
22nd February 2018, 17:20
This team, this car and this driver will dominate the 2018 season. As for Toto wanting to chainsaw off the “bridge” tell him l fueled up the chainsaw….
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
22nd February 2018, 17:21
For want of a better term……the inner child in a lot of F1 fans has just been killed. Can’t see many kids drawing these monstrosities on their school textbooks.
As an 11 year old boy, would ‘THIS’ F1 have drawn me in the way I was in 1997. I suspect not.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
22nd February 2018, 18:26
I totally agree with you although a few weeks ago I promised myself I wouldn’t complain about the halo. As for Hamilton saying we won’t notice it in a few races time, are they taking it off after a few races or something?
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
22nd February 2018, 18:43
Haha I said the same thing as well @canadianjosh but now it’s car launch time all I can see is the damn halo!
vetee (@vetee)
22nd February 2018, 19:03
MARK MY WORDS CAREY “Halo is the new meme” MARK MY WORDS CAREY
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
23rd February 2018, 0:42
LOL!
F1: Liberty’s ‘Halo’ brand
MtlRacer (@mtlracer)
22nd February 2018, 20:03
#ChainsawsForToto
I hope Toto Wolff will be receiving dozens if not hundreds of chainsaws between now and FP1 in Melbournce, 28 days from now).
pastaman (@)
22nd February 2018, 20:09
Cue anti-halo vocal minority
TEDBELL
22nd February 2018, 20:18
Call it a Bridge not a Halo. Halos are a circular in shape. Technically its not a halo but a bridge. A span that connects two points and is usually supported by columns. Call it what it is “A Bridge”.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
23rd February 2018, 0:41
It looks like a thong
Tango (@tango)
23rd February 2018, 8:25
True dat
socksolid (@socksolid)
22nd February 2018, 23:23
In today’s article toto wolff is angry that the halo increases the center of gravity of the car by at least 5 millimeters and adds 5 kilograms of weight. In other news toto is happy that f1 uses expensive hybrid engines that weight about 100kg more than the previous v8 engines and make the cars longer than the london bus.
Let’s take a quizz. Which car has longer wheel base? 2018 f1 car or 2013 Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended Wheelbase model with a wheel base of 3,465 mm?
Here are some links.
Picture of the rolls:
https://img.odometer.com/filter:scale/slides/4/1/1/5/9/8/4115989900/2168550f457d3e9f935920501ce00ec2b5f6c34e.jpeg?mw=615
F1 wheelbases:
https://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25999
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
24th February 2018, 2:20
@socksolid: Are you saying Rolls Royce is coming to F1 in 2021? I knew it!
F1: The Pinnacle of Stretch Limo Racing.