'Halo' Proves Worth in Opening Lap Crash at Spa

[Paul Jeffrey]

We may not like it from a visual point of view, but today the Halo very much proved its worth in a ferocious accident at turn 1 in Spa.

Reminiscent of Spa 2012, the opening corner accident for Nico Hulkenberg / Fernando Alonso / Charles Leclerc was as spectacular as it was dangerous, with Sauber youngster Leclerc perhaps the most fortunate driver of the bunch to walk away without injury - thanks in no small part to the new for 2018 Halo device fitted to his Alfa Romeo Sauber Ferrari Grand Prix car.

Introduced as a safety measure to protect the exposed head of Formula One drivers in accidents such as this, Spa 2018 very much provided one of the most prominent and visually striking tests of the new device, protecting Leclerc as the McLaren Renault of Alonso continued its journey atop the Sauber driver.

Post race TV images of the stricken machine would show considerable damage to the device caused by the underside of the out of control McLaren, proving itself both robust enough to absorb considerable forces from a race impact, and potentially preventing what could have been a much more serious accident should it have occurred prior to the introduction of the controversial device at the beginning of this season.

Fans might no like it, drivers might not be overly pleased with it either, but one thing is for sure, young Charles Leclerc probably owes more than a little gratitude to the Halo at the end of the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.

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[Steve Worrell]

Perhaps two lives saved by the halo this year alone.

 

[RasmusP]

Although I think Leclerc wouldn't have been hit in this accident, it would've been a big gamble without the halo!
So even if it didn't show a perfect example for a "would've been catastrophic without it", it really showed why it's a good thing to have it!

 

[M-Bimmer]

Halo probably saved Charles’s head today.
(Still it is beyond ugly for now)

 

[Sun Levi]

 

[Koen Verlinde]

The halo got hit by debris (whatever), doesn't mean the helmet or head of Charles would have been hit.

 

[Enagee]

Not really much of an argument, anyone sitting in that Sauber will be happy the halo was there.. .....................

Leclerc said: "I don't know how it would have ended up without but looking at it, I'm happy it was there.

..

... unless you're sitting at home playing F1 2018

 

[Steve Worrell]

The halo got hit by debris (whatever), doesn't mean the helmet or head of Charles would have been hit.

I dunno, those pics above look like the halo offered some protection.

 

[jimortality]

Well, I think there is too much safety in today's racing. I don't want to see death obviously but I want crashes and smashes and to be entertained. Racing is great but I want the whole package and drivers know the risks and are rewarded handsomely. If you go fast, there are risks. Tell me when you see a crash like today, you get excited? I do!

 

[Will Mazeo]

The halo is more a cocern to me... I'm afraid it will end up helping a decent sized piece of car to get stuck in the cockpit and hurt the driver more
Indycar windscreen is the way to go. FIA should work with them to get that thing working asap

 

[Deleted member 113561]

From the footage available, in my opinion, nothing would have happend without Halo. It would have been close but basically velocity, angle and pretty much it was impossible to get hit as the driver.

Marks on the Halo proof nothing, context is important.

P.s. Both onboards (360° and Tcam) proof my point. Driver would have not been hit without Halo!

 

[Filip Carlén]

The halo got hit by debris (whatever), doesn't mean the helmet or head of Charles would have been hit.

Debris dosen't cause this much damage.

If you look at the video frame by frame (use "," and "." youtube) you can see that the McLaren's floor hits Leclerc car and it also changes rotation midair, which means that it hit Leclerc pretty hard. Sure, he could have survived without the halo, but it offered great protection and meant that he could climb out of the car himself without any injuries. Halo did its job and it did it well, no argue about that.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

coulda woulda shoulda, the guy walked out of a possibly life-threatening situation with not a scratch on him, what's the complaint exactly? and saying, crashes are what excites one about racing, well - sorry - i personally find a good overtake like the one bottas pulled of today (eau rouge! outside!?) a hundred times more exciting than a crash.

 

[Steve Worrell]

Debris dosen't cause this much damage.

If you look at the video frame by frame (use "," and "." youtube) you can see that the McLaren's floor hits Leclerc car and it also changes rotation midair, which means that it hit Leclerc pretty hard. Sure, he could have survived without the halo, but it offered great protection and meant that he could climb out of the car himself without any injuries. Halo did its job and it did it well, no argue about that.

I've just done exactly what you suggested with the frame by frame analysis. I have to agree that the McLaren floor hits the halo. It looks like Fernando's car was going to land on top of lecrecs car but was deflected by the halo.

Having said that I also agree with a previous comment that it would probably have missed his head. It would probably have landed where his hands were. Either way you don't want that.

Whoever said debris did this, na, no way. Watch frame by frame.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

p.s.: historic irony: in 2012 it was alonso who nearly got hit in the head by a car at almost exactly the same spot:

 

[JayOTT]

Perhaps two lives saved by the halo this year alone.

Still not buying the idea that any lives have actually been 'saved' at all. We went without Halos in F1 for 67 years. It took some time to iron out the safety issues, but then there was a two decade stretch where no drivers died, and the two deaths that bookended this stretch would not have been prevented by this 'solution' to a non-existent problem.

What threads like this do is allow the FIA to get complacent and keep a rushed, haphazard solution in place. Here's an idea; instead of pretending that anything that hits the Halo is a life saved, regardless of whether or not it would ever have actually hit the driver... can we please revert to pressuring the FIA to come up with a better alternative?

I don't want to have to spend the rest of my life pretending that F1 doesn't exist because thong cars became socially acceptable.

 

[Steve Worrell]

Still not buying the idea that any lives have actually been 'saved' at all. We went without Halos in F1 for 67 years. It took some time to iron out the safety issues, but then there was a two decade stretch where no drivers died, and the two deaths that bookended this stretch would not have been prevented by this 'solution' to a non-existent problem.

What threads like this do is allow the FIA to get complacent and keep a rushed, haphazard solution in place. Here's an idea; instead of pretending that anything that hits the Halo is a life saved, regardless of whether or not it would ever have actually hit the driver... can we please revert to pressuring the FIA to come up with a better alternative?

I don't want to have to spend the rest of my life pretending that F1 doesn't exist because thong cars became socially acceptable.

Hence why I said perhaps.

I am all for finding a more attractive solution.

 

[motoliser]

The McLaren hits the Sauber from behind so still no risk for the drivers head.
Halo is better than nothing but wouldn't have saved Senna's life for sure.

 

[NtsParadize]

Full canopy is safer than the halo

 

[Zieonn]

Just a FYI just cause the damage on the Halo is not near Leclerc's head does not mean that is where the car would have impacted if the halo was off of the car.

The halo did its job by deflecting the car off of the danger zone of Leclerc's car, If the halo was not on the car the car would have likely reacted with a much much different approach (Alonso's that is) and may or could have crushed his hands and to me that is a pretty serious scenario that the Halo prevented.

I may not find the Halo the most pleasing to the eyes and I do like danger to sports however unwanted danger (Like death or serious injury that can be prevented with the unwanted effect of loosing some of the "pleasing to the eyes" aspect) that can hurt the sport but can be prevented with the unwanted effect of loosing the pleasing aspect to the car (The Halo) is a good win loose scenario to me.

I know people will say they want danger and "dont make things overly safe" but the Halo adds safety with ONLY the negative of beauty to the car.