Hamilton: Pointless having helmet designs with the Halo

Lewis Hamilton is considering scrapping his helmet design in the future with the Halo blocking the view and making it tricky to distinguish each driver in the car, while Sebastian Vettel has suggested a potential solution.

The reigning F1 world champion has been a muted supporter of the Halo having been initially against the cockpit protection device, while Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said he wanted to cut it off with a chainsaw at its team launch at Silverstone, with the Halo becoming a mandatory safety device from 2018.

While fears around visibility for drivers from inside the cockpit and a poor aesthetic appearance were largely quelled at the 2018 F1 opener in Australia, concerns still remain about identifying drivers behind the Halo which has led to Hamilton calling his helmet designs “pointless”.

“It’s almost pointless for us painting the helmets nowadays so I’m probably going to get rid of my paint on mine,” Hamilton said. “It’ll save weight. I don’t really have a suggestion for it. I’m sure they’ll come up with something.”

Vettel has supported the suggestion of personalising the Halo with unique designs in a similar style to driver helmets to resolve the issue.

“We should be allowed to design the halo,” Vettel said. “We can’t negotiate the position of the halo, we can’t put it at the back of the car.

“So maybe it should be up to us to design the halo. That could be an idea, just to add an element to what makes it different from the rest.”

At the Australian Grand Prix both Force India and McLaren revealed sponsor and partner deals specifically designed and displayed for the Halo while teams like Ferrari have been quick to include the team’s badge on the cockpit protector.