Hamilton: The last race of F1 cars looking good

Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo have accepted the 2017 Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi will mark the last race the cars “will look good” ahead of the introduction of the Halo.

From the start of next season all F1 cars will run a mandatory Halo safety cockpit protector after the device was approved by the FIA following trails with F1 teams over the past two years during testing and free practice sessions - beating other safety solutions suggested including the Aeroscreen and the Shield.

While the cockpit protector has been roundly backed, despite an initial mixed reception, when quizzed about the introduction of the Halo during the Thursday press conference in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton concedes the cars aesthetically will struggle to meet the looks of the 2017 versions.

“It’s the last of the era of cars looking good, I think,” Hamilton said. “The last race where the cars will look good. I think from next year it’s all downhill in terms of how it looks but safety will go up. Maybe start a new flip-flop brand next year and be successful in some way.”

Both Ricciardo and Vettel echoed Hamilton’s sentiments but have faith the sport’s worst fears won’t be realised as teams will aim to find smart ways to integrate the Halo into its 2018 designs.

“We’ll make sure our helmets are polished this weekend, so they look good because they’ll be a bit harder to see next year,” Ricciardo said. “I don’t think it’s going to be as dramatic as most people make it out to be so it should be fine.”

“Everything I’ve seen so far looks different but on the other hand I think it’s something that we all get used to,” Vettel added. “It’s no doubt that the cars look better the way they are now but we’ll work on the aesthetics so it will look fine as well.”