JULY 20, 2017

FIA mandates Halo for 2018

The controversial frontal protection concept called 'Halo' will make its mandatory debut on all formula one cars next year.

The controversial frontal protection concept called 'Halo' will make its mandatory debut on all formula one cars next year.

After Silverstone practice, Sebastian Vettel said the transparent alternative called 'Shield' made him dizzy, while car designers complained that time had run out to iron out all of the problems for a 2018 debut.

"There's a lot of a lot to get through to ensure that this is a thoroughly developed and sorted package to put on next year's car," said Red Bull's Paul Monaghan.

The earlier, 'Halo' variant was however tested extensively last season, and so after Wednesday's strategy group meeting, the FIA announced that it will be compulsory to race next year.

"The FIA confirms the introduction of the Halo for 2018," read a statement.

"With the support of the teams, certain features of its design will be further enhanced.

"Having developed and evaluated a large number of devices over the past five years, it had become clear that the Halo presents the best overall safety performance," the FIA added.

Grand Prix Drivers' Association president Alex Wurz said on Twitter: "(It's) definitely not the most aesthetic thing.

"But on the positive, please consider that safer cars means we can race much faster and harder in the future."

(GMM)