As the races go by since the halo’s introduction, the examples of its worth have only increased – on the Sunday of the 2022 British Grand Prix two such instances came at once.
In the Formula 2 feature race, Roy Nissany was almost certainly saved from serious injury after a collision with Dennis Hauger saw the latter mount the former’s car.
Only a few hours later, Zhou Guanyu’s flipped car ended up in the catch-fencing at the first corner of Silverstone in the GP after skidding across the gravel trap upside down. The Chinese driver credits his lack of injuries to the device. “The Halo saved me today,” he said. “It goes to show that every step we take in improving our cars has real, valuable results.”
Many were opposed to the halo when it first came in – Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is one of racing’s many converts to the device after initially saying that he wanted to take “a chainsaw” to the halo when it was first introduced.
First appearing on F1 cars, the titanium device, which is strong enough to support a double-decker bus, has since been extended to junior formulas, including F2 and W Series, keeping drivers safe from serious injury or worse.
Below, we look at eight times the halo has emphatically stepped up to the plate when required.
Early on after its introduction, the halo saw action when 2018 F2 rivals Nirei Fukuzumi and Tadasuke Makino came together, the former’s car landing on top of the latter’s in much the same way as Verstappen and Hamilton’s.
“I understand how the halo works now,” Makino said afterwards. “I don’t know what happened. It was a big surprise for me but without the halo I think the tyre would have hit my helmet.”
Charles Leclerc / Fernando Alonso – Formula 1 – Spa-Francorchamps, 2018
Alonso takes part of Leclerc’s Alfa with him after narrowly avoiding the Monegasque’s head due to the halo
An investigation afterwards confirmed that the halo was paramount in protecting Leclerc from injury, Alonso’s right front wheel imparting a 58kN impact upon Leclerc’s safety device – 46% of its 125kN FIA-prescribed load requirement.
Though the report deemed the McLaren wheel wouldn’t have made contact with the Monegasque’s crash helmet, its front wing endplate certainly would have done were it not for the halo – once more proving its worth.
“I have never been a fan of the halo but I have to say that I was very happy to have it over my head today,” Leclerc said later. “I felt the impact and looking at the image of my car it is quite spectacular.”
Alex Peroni – Formula 3 – Monza, 2018
Peroni’s F3 car landed upside down before righting itself
DPPI
Heading out of the Parabolica at 2019 FIA Formula 3 meeting at Monza, Alex Peroni ran wide and hit a sausage kerb, launching his car into a huge aerial accident.
The car landed up-side down on top the barriers, also smashing through an advertisement hoarding en route.
Despite being knocked out and suffering a broken vertebra, the shunt could have been much worse – had the halo not been installed Peroni’s head and neck might well have taken the full force of the impact.
“The first thing that went through my mind when I watched the replay was that the halo saved my life,” Peroni said in an interview afterwards.
“I landed directly on my head and even though the halo was there, my helmet still hit the barrier. Without the halo, who knows what would have happened.”
Romain Grosjean – Formula 1 – Sakhir, 2020
The front part of Romain Grosjean’s car pierced the barrier – halo still intact
DPPI
Last season, the halo underwent perhaps its greatest test and came through with flying colours.
At the 2021 Bahrain GP, Romain Grosjean’sHaas connected with Daniil Kvyat’sAlphaTauri and speared into the barrier, suffering a now infamous fiery crash from which he was lucky to survive with only relatively minor burns.
Zhou Guanyu escaped without any significant injuries after a dramatic crash at the start of the 2022 British Grand Prix which flipped his car — as a track invasion was simultaneously attempted
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The Haas, aside from the monocoque and halo, was completely destroyed as it torpedoed through the barriers, the car’s split fuel line causing man and machine to be engulfed in a fireball.
Grosjean emerged from the flames before being pulled to safety by F1 medical staff – and was unequivocal in his stance on F1’s newest safety feature after that crash.
“I wasn’t for the halo some years ago but I think it’s the greatest thing that we’ve brought to Formula 1,” Grosjean admitted in a video filmed from his hospital bed. “Without it I wouldn’t be able to speak to you today.”
This was in some contrast to the verdict that he – the head of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, which often pushes for safety advancements – had had given in 2017.
“We don’t need anything,” he said. “I am against every halo or shield or whatever, it is not F1.”
Sarah Moore / Beitske Visser – W Series – Spa-Francorchamps, 2021
It’s not just in F1 that the halo has shown how crucial it is to driver protection. Earlier this year the W Series witnessed a six-car pile-up at Spa-Franchorchamps’ Raidillon, which saw Sarah Moore’s halo deflect a wheel over her head and Beitske Visser’s car end up upside down, both protected by the safety device.
“Given the crash the worst could have happened quite easily,” Visser said afterwards. “Without the halos we believe there could have been multiple deaths.”
“For myself, Abbie [Eaton] came over the top of my car and the wheel of her car hit the halo and it damaged the plastic part on top of my helmet,” added Moore in an interview The Yorkshire Post.
“The halo saved me from having a big blow to the head. I am very thankful for that. When accidents like that happen it goes to show why all these things were brought in.”
Lewis Hamilton / Max Verstappen – Formula 1 – Monza, 2021
Last weekend’s crunch-up at Monza’s first chicane between the two 2021 title contenders once again brought the halo into sharp focus.
Verstappen’s right rear-wheel was still moving as it went over Hamilton’s crash helmet, the latter clearly saved from likely serious injury in the incident.
As mentioned above, the Mercedes driver was grateful for safety device’s protection, but this wasn’t the case several years ago.
“Please no!” he posted on Instagram at the time of its first test. “This is the worst looking mod in Formula 1 history.
Hamilton comes under scrutiny of Verstappen’s right rear tyre
Andrej Isakovic/AFP via Getty Images
“I appreciate the quest for safety but this is Formula 1, and the way it is now is perfectly fine.”
His team boss Toto Wolff is another whose opinion has done a hairpin turn.
“I’m not impressed with the whole thing,” he commented at the launch of Merc’s ’18 car. “If you gave me a chainsaw, I would take it off. We need to look after the drivers’ safety but what we have implemented is aesthetically not appealing. We need to tackle that and come up with a solution that looks better.”
After last Sunday’s accident, Wolff came out saying “I don’t even want to think about if we didn’t have the halo.”
Though these drivers have certainly been saved from injury by the halo, has it been a matter of life or death every time? Martin Brundle, speaking in his Sky column yesterday, said it was difficult to conclude.
“I’m reticent to count the number of certain lives saved due to the halo, in my own personal experience I’ve been hit on the head three times by a flying racing car (Ayrton Senna 1983 F3, Patrick Tambay Monaco 1986 F1, and Jos Verstappen 1994 Brazil F1),” Brundle said.
“I also managed to hit my head on the barrier and racetrack in the same accident in Monaco 1984. We did survive incidents, but these latest safety additions are very much proving their worth not least in shunts like this one and Romain Grosjean’s in Bahrain last year.”
During the feature race of the 2022 British F2 round, Roy Nissany went off track at the Wellington Straight.
In rejoining the circuit, the Israeli made contact with reigning Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger, sending the latter off the track with his front right tyre knocked off the rim.
The out-of-control Norwegian came back onto the circuit at the chicane, but not before it was launched off a sausage kerb, T-boning Nissany with his car mounting the Israeli’s as it did so.
As the Hauger car crunched into Nissany’s HALO and stayed there, serious injury for the latter was almost certainly prevented.
Zhou Guanyu – Formula 1 – Silverstone 2022
Zhou Guanyu began the 2022 British GP in a promising ninth position, but it all went wrong just yards from his starting position.
As the cars pulled away from the grid, George Russell’s Mercedes moved over and clipped Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri, therefore spearing into Zhou who was on the far left of the track.
The Chinese driver’s car went sideways then skywards, flipping in mid-air and landing on the halo and roll hoop.
Sparks flying, the Alfa shot through the asphalt and gravel, digging in before being flung up into the catch fence, where it became wedged in the gap with the tyre barrier.
Zhou was taken out on a stretcher as a precaution, but reported feeling “pretty good” after his medical check.
One thing is for certain – the halo saved the young driver from serious harm.
