Hulkenberg Roll - Halo Helped, or Hindered?

[NtsParadize]

Halo reduced the chance of damage to Hulkenberg in the crash. However, it did obstruct his exit.

However, this is was definitely one of the maybe 5% of accidents where the halo is worse than no halo. That said, without it, I doubt there would have been space for him to get out anyway.

When was the last time you saw an F1 car catch fire near the cockpit after a big crash. What direction does fire and smoke move in? The marshals were near the car pretty soon, with the extinguishers ready, and they put any small fire out. As someone who's had to run out to flaming cars, the larger the fire, the faster you bloody run.

The drivers wear fire suits that are supposed to survive infernos. If the fire is big and the driver is trapped, first off, the extinguishers would have been directed towards the driver, and then there would likely have been less care rolling the car back over to get him out sooner.


Still the Halo is currently 3-1 up after the season. It showed its strength for Makino in Spain (F2), Hartley at Silverstone and Leclerc in Belgium, while trapping Hulkenberg where he'd have probably been trapped anyway (remember Wehrlein in Monaco last season?)

It had no effect on the racing whatsoever this season. The halo is obviously not the best solution, despite getting used to it, most of us agree it looks horrible, but aesthetics can't really be a reason to remove a device that has proven itself to be a lifesaver. Regardless of if you think Alonso's wheel would have missed Leclerc's head in the Spa crash, the tyre was going to rip across Leclerc's hand without a doubt, likely causing some serious damage.


But of course, the Halo haters are going to run with this crash for years and completely ignore every time it was good and take a "Halo did a tiny bad thing in a situation that was safe and under control" moment and blaze it as "Halo is going to kill someone", dismissing the "proof Halo works" examples because they're ignorant.

The Halo exists because it is the best currently available solution to the problem of allowing head protection for the drivers while still keeping the cars open cockpit. That last bit is important. Once the aeroscreen or shield or better looking alternatives can prove themselves to be stronger than the Halo, they will be introduced, but we're just going to have to grin and bear the Halo in the meantime, and just be happy we haven't seen some pretty nasty head injuries this season.

Halo is not F1

 

[NtsParadize]

The halo is a catch 22 situation, It protects against large objects like flying wheels but wheels are tethered to the cars and rarely fly off. The only real protection the halo offers is in those situations when another car gets air and crosses the path of the cockpit, which we've seen during the season as @Jimlaad43 mentioned above. The halo would fail miserably in a repeat situation similar to Massa's, but thankfully F1 cars are so well built and maintained components can/would only fly off if the car had sustained some damage.

One thing I did notice was how panicked Hulk sounded when he first came on the radio and saying, almost yelling "the cars on fire, tell them to put out the fire" I got the impression he was genuinely distressed over not being able to extract himself knowing the car had a fire, unlike Alonso at Melbourne in 2016 who's car ended up in a similar position against the tyre barrier, although his car wasn't on fire, without the halo he was out before the marshals arrived on the scene.

A solution to engine/turbo fires during these rare accidents would be to implement a small automatic extinguisher system, like they use in NASCAR this would at least eliminate the fire risk when trapped inside the cockpit.

I don't hate the halo, but I don't agree with it either.

They have automatic fire suppression systems inside the cockpit.

 

[RufGTI]

I'm really looking forward to the Indycar screen solution. When it proves right this maybe could come into discussion in F1 again. Never underestimate the effects of public pressure.

 

[woz9us]

The halo is here to stay, until someone is killed as a direct result of it's existence, unfortunately, that's the attitude that wins out usually, innovation where safety in motor sports is concerned is a result of incidents, not in avoidance of them.

For me a screen would be the way to go; debris is deflected without hindering the entrance/exit of the car.

 

[HazelR]

Perhaps some sort of lift bag using compressed, inert, gas which is triggered by the driver to lift the front of the car thus providing space to escape?
Kinda like a Mae West life jacket for pilots.
An edge case has been found now use the close season to engineer a solution.

 

[Tberg]

There isn't a perfect solution if they want the cockpit to remain open, only fully enclosing it like a prototype you'll have proper doors with space for them to leave.

Leave how? Through a door?

 

[Tberg]

F1 needs to hire Traxxas here...

 

[OptimusRacing]

I think it did hinder his escape from the car, especially since Hulk himself said in that radio message "Get me out of here, there's fire!"
Of course the Halo has shown its worth in other accidents (Spa, anyone?) but what I think should be a solution to this would be, for next season: Make the Halo detachable!
Of course, that would mean the Halo would be a little less strong as far as impact force is concerned, but thinking about the kind of crash that Hulkenberg had, it'd have been a lot more helpful if he could've detached the Halo, tossed it aside and gotten out underneath the car by himself.

 

[PfzFantaribo]

It made no difference. He was unable to get out, indeed, but that would not have changed without the halo.

 

[Ghoults]

F1 needs to hire Traxxas here...

Just tap the d-pad quickly left and right and the car should roll over on its wheels.

 

[AlfOVermello]

I think that the RedBull prototipe was a better solution. More visibility for the pilot and it could be ejectable in case of emerjenccy

 

[ronald kasteel]

If the car had caught on fire as it almost did, there's no doubt the halo would've killed him. Pick your poison.

and he sounded scared as **** when he said am hanging like a ****ing dead cow and heeeeey the car is on fire!!! suck **** help fire!!!! not his excact words cos alot got beeped out not hang me like a dead cow for that ......

 

[Fat-Alfie]

I still think the introduction of the halo was a knee-jerk reaction to an accident caused by one driver failing to stick to the rules (i.e. Bianchi not slowing down sufficiently under double yellow flags).

They could just as easily have introduced remote throttle control to reduce speeds to a safe limit. If the same accident happened again today, the car would still suffer a 58G impact

 

[SuperLime]

I dont think it really hindered him as he was hanging upside down anyway. yes, the halo made it impossible for him to get out on his own but I think it wouldve been difficult even without the halo.

 

[Will Mazeo]

You know something I think it's very weird now is how everything is thanks to the halo now.... did these people ever watch F1 before?
Also weird how some people freaked out at this accident lol it was rather low speed roll....

 

[James Egan]

Still don't understand that the did not started with the halo intruducing it in lower formula classes.
Seen more accidents there where it could have made a difference than in F1 actually.
For Sophia Flörsch it might have saved her from neck-injury.

all the new FIA single seaters are getting halos

 

[James Egan]

The way the car landed it hindered the extraction of the driver since it came to rest upside down, I would have a rethink of the design of the halo to make sure if the car is upside down the driver is able to get out, also if that fire had got hold how would the driver have gotten out, so I would consider it a double edged sword in this case, it saved his life, yes BUT it also hindered the extraction since the car needed to be rolled over but again to get the Hulk out of there....

the halo didn't "save his life" here.

 

[motoliser]

Can't remember last time an F1 car was totally on fire... was it 94 Joes Verstappen Benetton Ford while refuelling??
Aesthetically, dont mind the Halo at all. it looks fine as it is.
Would I like to drive without it?? For sure!!

Correction: Pedro Diniz 1996 Argentina GP...scary stuff

 

[Ben Lee]

I still think the introduction of the halo was a knee-jerk reaction to an accident caused by one driver failing to stick to the rules (i.e. Bianchi not slowing down sufficiently under double yellow flags).

They could just as easily have introduced remote throttle control to reduce speeds to a safe limit. If the same accident happened again today, the car would still suffer a 58G impact

The FIA absolutely had blood on their hands after the Bianchi crash, so they had to put the blame onto Bianchi rather than themselves. The decision to have a tractor on a live race circuit was what killed Bianchi, not the fact he was going “too fast”. He was a racing driver, it was his job to push the car to the edge, even in the yellow flag zones, in fact backing off might cause that to get worse as you have less downforce and would likely aquaplane more.

The FIA, bowing to “commercial pressures” to keep the racing running on time (and not dispatch a safety car) is what killed Bianchi.

 

[Diogo Goetz Brand]

The fact that he can wave his hands in front of his face as he's hanging upside down in the cockpit is all well and good until the car catches fire and stays on fire while he can't remove himself from it.

When was the last time you saw an F1 catch on fire? Not under the engine cover, but around the cockpit?
And even if it does, the circuit is surrounded with marshals with fire extinguishers for those situations, the car has a fire extinguisher system as well if I'm not mistaken.

Even though the halo looks horrendous, I don't think the "what if the car catches on fire and the driver is trapped inside?" argument is valid against it.