Formula 1 are experimenting with ways to use the space created by the Halo device. Here’s why it’s not a worthwhile experiment.
Monetizing safety is just one more thing wrong with the Halo.
How do you take an unpopular idea and make it worse? Add money. Motorsport.com are reporting that the Halo device could be given a digital ticker for commercial purposes.
Formula 1 are experimenting with the idea among others to take advantage of the space made available by the unpopular safety device that is set for introduction in 2018.
McLaren F1 executive director Zak Brown said the idea would be similar to a stock ticker, according to Autosport.com.
"Possibly some sort of almost like ticker running, like you see at the stock exchange. Some kind of messaging – that sort of thing[…]Like all things, it will develop over time, so what the Halo looks like today will be different in five years[…]It compromises around the driver, but equally it creates more commercial opportunity on the halo itself. So net, it’s not a win or a loss."
A F1 spokesman also said that F1 are experimenting to help ‘our commercial partners’.
"But we are always seeking new ways to help our commercial partners, and that of the teams and promoters get the best possible visibility at each race."
The Halo’s introduction has been called “rushed” by Force India, potentially delaying their 2018 car, and this idea of commercializing safety is another bad idea in a long series of bad ideas with regards to driver head safety in F1.
The current Halo device was a prototype design of Ferrari, and upon introduction, it was criticized as “ugly”, with several notable drivers sharing their thoughts against it but ultimately accepting it as an FIA decision.
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This latest idea by F1 to put digital sponsors on the Halo may be the last straw for fans who have criticized the Halo’s looks, its practicality, and its necessity.
In discussing the potential use of a digital ticker, driver safety was not mentioned. For example, using it as secondary warning light or emergency display — that’s the whole point of the Halo, safety. Instead, both Brown and the unnamed spokesman mentioned ‘more commercial opportunities’. It appears the Halo’s rushed introduction is about making money — it never had anything to do with driver safety. Because if it did, there were several other prototypes better suited, Red Bull Racing’s “aeroscreen” being one.
What is further incensing is the fact that F1 used the tragic deaths of Jules Bianchi and IndyCar’s Justin Wilson in addition to Felipe Massa’s accident to justify the Halo’s development and implementation. Yet mere months before its official introduction, F1 aren’t promoting the Halo device as a life-saving requirement, but rather what to do with the space it has created — to make money.
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Formula 1 cars are already 200 mph billboards. To add a device that impedes driver vision under the guise of safety to promote its money-making potential will further rattle an already unconvinced fanbase. How about you scrap it all, F1?