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The Halo must be strong enough to hold the weight of a London double-decker bus, according to Mercedes technical director James Allison. The controversial cockpit protection device will be implemented into Formula 1 for the upcoming season in a bid to improve driver safety.
After extensive tests over the last number of years, the FIA confirmed that the Halo was the only device ready to be structured onto the F1 cars for the 2018 season. In a video from Mercedes, Allison explained the tasks that all 10 teams on the grid have taken onboard.
"This is not a light piece of work, it is several kilos of titanium that needs to be put in the car," he said. "There are changes that we needed to do to accommodate it to ensure the overall car would still stay below the weight limit.
"It's also not light because it takes really high loads. We had to strengthen the design of the chassis so it would be able to take roughly the weight of a London double-decker bus sitting on top of the Halo. We needed to make sure it would be strong enough to withstand the type of event it was designed to protect the driver against."
Many fans have consistently voiced outrage over the decision to introduce the Halo, mostly due to its unappealing visuals. Teams will be designing the Halo as a part of their liveries, and Allison believes that head protection concepts will look better in time.
"This is the first generation head protection that goes up, over and around the driver's head. But it won't be the last. Nothing in F1 stands still for long. We will all be taking this first go and trying to improve it, trying to make sure the safety gets better but also the aesthetics.
"It's bit of an acquired taste and we're still acquiring it and everyone else too but I'm sure there are things we can do in coming seasons to make it also look nicer. The imperative to look after the driver safety and our desire to give us cars that are going to set the pulse racing aesthetically will see us continue to develop this concept in the seasons to come."
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C. Sainz jr
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Rindtchamp
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Quite frankly it looks like it belongs on a bus.