The 17k investment proving its enduring F1 worth

The introduction of the halo in 2018 was not met with enthusiasm by fans, teams or drivers. The aesthetics were questionable, and the device contributed to the cars reaching a total weight of 733kg. A significant part of that increase in mass was due to the sizeable chassis structures required to handle the test loads that were necessary if the halo was to function correctly in a severe accident.

I dedicated one of these columns in 2017 to the launch of the halo, arguing that we should be seeking to roll it out in the junior formulae rather than questioning its introduction. I made this point as I truly believed it was going to save lives.

Fast forward to 2021. Like most things to do with appearance, familiarity makes the once monstrous device look perfectly normal – and there is not a driver on the grid who would be happy to drive a car without this protection, its efficacy having been proven several times over the past four seasons.

The spectacular collision with Max Verstappen at Monza this year led Lewis Hamilton to comment that the halo “saved my neck”, and it is probable that without it Romain Grosjean would have suffered potentially fatal injuries in Bahrain and Charles Leclerc might well have been seriously injured when Fernando Alonso’s McLaren was pushed on top of him at the first turn at Spa in 2018. It also saved F2 driver Tadasuke Makino from a head-strike with a rear tyre during a collision at Barcelona that same year.

The history of the device goes back nearly nine years prior to its introduction. In July 2009 the death of Henry Surtees was followed just eight days later by the serious injury to Felipe Massa, both as a result of objects striking them on the head. This led to Peter Wright of the FIA asking the World Motorsport Council if canopies as a form of secondary frontal protection should be considered for F1 cars.

The halo was vital in protecting Grosjean as his Haas F1 car crashed through the Bahrain Armco barrier last year

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The initial response was negative, as it was felt that canopies may introduce problems of their own, but in spite of the reservations, by January 2011, a research programme was set up. Initial proposals were put to the Technical Working Group at the end of March and physical testing began in May.

Again, although canopies were tested, the consensus was that a blade system or forward roll hoop would provide protection for the majority of accident scenarios with minimal downsides in other accidents. This was backed up not just by opinion but by an extremely comprehensive analysis of potential accident scenarios and the effect that a halo device might have on the outcome of each one. This showed overwhelmingly that a form of forward protection had many more advantages than disadvantages.

To cope with the high energies experienced during an impact, the halo also must withstand a combined load of around 14 tonnes. This is like expecting a London double decker bus to park on top of it with no damage

With parallel development routes of the canopy and the forward roll hoop – which evolved into the halo that we use today – progress was slow but thorough. The practical testing involved firing a 20kg wheel and tyre at the devices using a cannon driven by compressed nitrogen. The wheel assembly impacted at 140mph, resulting in an energy of 40 kilojoules. To put this in context an F1 helmet, which is designed to the highest standards in the world, can only withstand 540 joules in a penetration test, just 1.35% of that achieved by the halo.

In terms of strength, the halo is no less impressive. In order to cope with the high energies experienced during an impact, the halo also must withstand a combined load of around 14 tonnes. This is like expecting a London double decker bus to park on top of it with no damage.

Not only does the 7kg halo have to withstand this load, but so too does the carbon fibre chassis just at the point where it is weakened by the large void of the cockpit opening. This has increased the weight of the bare chassis by around 5kg to somewhere around 70kg. Compare this with the enormous jacks used to lift the weight of that double decker bus – they weigh 2.4 tonnes.

The halo itself is made from Grade 5 titanium and consists of the main ‘C’ shaped hoop formed from a 50mm tube with 4mm wall thickness, to which are attached the rear brackets and the front fabricated ‘vee’ transition. The three legs then have the attachment brackets welded on and the whole assembly is then heat treated and final machining carried out. Being titanium, the welding has to be done in a chamber filled with inert gas to ensure the integrity of the welds. The whole assembly, which is 835mm long by 580mm wide, must be held to a tolerance of 0.05mm.

Halo devices have to withstand enormous force to protect drivers

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Anyone with experience of fabricating will know this is an incredibly tight tolerance to achieve on a structure like this. Once the halo is fabricated and fitted to the chassis, teams can cover it with a lightweight fairing made of a carbon and Kevlar mix – but the dimensions of this are tightly controlled.

In order to gain homologation, any company manufacturing a halo must subject a sample to exhaustive testing and each production sample must undergo rigorous post manufacturing inspection.

The precision required and the quality control expected all comes at a price and that price is around €17,000. It might seem a lot of money, but ask Hamilton or Leclerc whether they think it’s good value and you can be pretty sure beforehand what answer you will get.

Incidents such as Alonso being fired over the top of Leclerc's Sauber in 2018 helped the halo gain acceptance

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images