'Ugly' Halo against tradition of F1 - Palmer
Jolyon Palmer says he would be 'very happy' to see the controversial 'Halo' cockpit protection device scrapped following a lukewarm response by Sebastian Vettel during its latest track outing at Silverstone.
The divisive concept - which has been revised from the original design first seen in March - reappeared during the British Grand Prix with a brief outing in FP1 on Vettel's Ferrari and again in testing on a Red Bull driven by Pierre Gasly.
Tellingly, Vettel - who has been one of the vocal supporters for such a device - admitted there are some shortcomings with the design, with his words likely to be factored into a final decision to be taken soon that will determine whether the FIA will push on with a planned 2017 introduction.
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Having expressed misgivings about the Halo earlier in the year, Renault driver Palmer has reiterated his view that the essence of F1 will be lost if it strays from the open cockpit formula and admits he would be happy to see it dropped.
"I'd be very happy," he said. "I just think it's pretty ugly, it's against the tradition in Formula One - I like the open cockpit. I think it's safe enough as it is otherwise I wouldn't be doing it if I was worried.
"There are other safety implications as well in terms of getting out the car and the Halo 2 I think is being revised as well so clearly there's something that's not ideal about that. I think at the moment having an open cockpit and traditional Formula One is where it should be. And the car is much better looking as well."
Palmer has previously commented that a cockpit protection device would be more relevant for a championship like the IndyCar Series following the death of Justin Wilson at the Pocono oval last year.
