Please, Do Not Let Halos Become A Road Car Trend
Halos have been one of the greatest inventions in improving the safety of modern open-cockpit race cars. Looking back on times before, itâs almost mad to think that racing drivers for decades have simply had their heads fully exposed to the elements and the dangers of flying parts and rollovers for decades.
Since becoming mandatory in Formula One in 2018, the halo has undoubtedly prevented countless injuries and at least one near-certain death in the sport.
Had it not been for that large pillar of carbon when Romain Grosjeanâs Haas speared into an armco barrier and burst into flames at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, itâs all but guaranteed he wouldnât still be here today. Anyone who doubted the halo before was quickly silenced, and itâs no surprise to see it widely adopted now in other single-seater series.
Halos make complete sense on Formula One cars
It makes sense on race cars. The nature of wheel-to-wheel racing is parts can go flying, be that wheels, bits of carbon or, as Felipe Massa unfortunately experienced in 2009, a stray shock absorber. Â And if you flip a single-seat racing car, there are no automatically deployable roll bars to aid you, and itâs possible theyâd cause more issues at that kind of speed. Which is why a fixed roll hoop also exists.
The thing is though, halos are ugly. Thatâs not something to be considered on a purpose-built racing machine, but it should matter for road cars. Which has left me a little baffled by the first prototype shots of the Mercedes-AMG Purespeed.
This isnât a surprise, really. The concept for the Purespeed was revealed earlier this year sporting a halo to give a direct link to Mercedesâ F1 efforts, and I didnât like it then. Mercedes confirmed a production version of the speedster, but it wasnât clear just how similar to the concept it would be.
Who or what is that really protecting?
The answer, it turns out based on some prototype shots, is nearly identical. Make what you will of the rest of the car, but I canât look beyond that halo. Mercedes explicitly states âIt protects the occupants in the event of an accidentâ, but what is it really protecting? It splits the seats, leaving both driver and passenger pretty much just exposed to the elements as they would be without it.
Notice both heads are poking above the rear of the bar too, so in the event of a rollover, itâs not really doing a great deal to protect those skulls from the road. No wonder Mercedes is offering matching helmets with the car, and you know, the two big roll hoops behind them.
Iâm sure Mercedes engineers could provide me with some logical explanation for rigidity and an extra element of safety, but I canât escape the feeling it just looks ugly and pretentious.
Roll hoops already exist for a reason
Solutions already exist for the road, and the trivialisation of safety features like the halo is something that should stop in its tracks before everyone with an open-top car begins to clock on to it. Too long, didnât read it; it’s ugly and pointless. Please stop it before itâs too late.
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