Lowe: By second F1 race nobody will notice Halo

Williams technical head Paddy Lowe is confident any fears around Formula 1’s new Halo cockpit protector will be over by the opening races of 2018.

Speaking at the British team’s launch in London the former Mercedes boss is satisfied with the Williams’ attempts to integrate the Halo into its FW41 design which will be seen in the flesh for the first time on the opening day of pre-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya on February 26.

While dismissing the aerodynamic impact the Halo will have on the overall performance of F1 cars this year, Lowe has underlined the safety measures the new cockpit protector will introduce which should be the priority over fears on aesthetics.

“I’ve been a big supporter of making some improvement in that area which is the biggest remaining risk in Formula One to the drivers,” Lowe told Reuters. “I think by the second race nobody will notice it any more.

“We’ve had roughly once per year, for the last two years that I’ve been looking out, an event where you go ‘that really was lucky, someone got away with it there’. I think it would only be a matter of time before we weren’t saying somebody’s been lucky, but they were unlucky. So that’s a really good project.”

After the first two 2018 F1 car launches, by Haas and Williams respectively, the Halo has drawn the biggest focus to gauge how each team has combined the cockpit protector to the car. The device weighs around seven kilograms and has to withstand the weight of a double-decker bus.

Lowe also explained the Halo’s purpose was to protect drivers from large objects such as wheels or whole cars rather than smaller debris that struck Felipe Massa on the helmet during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.