Formula One: Mercedes boss Toto Wolff makes bold claim about Halo

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Formula One team boss Toto Wolff made a rather bold claim about the new Halo cockpit device.

As a result of a new regulation for the 2018 Formula One season, all Formula One cars must have what is known as a Halo device around the cockpit. This device was tested and introduced as an added safety measure to protect each driver’s head inside the cockpit.

According to Formula One, the Halo device is strong enough to hold a bus, which bodes well for driver safety given the fact that several recent incidents involving items penetrating cockpits of open-wheel race cars have results in drivers being killed.

In 2014, Formula One driver Jules Bianchi’s car slammed into a bulldozer in the Japanese Grand Prix, and his head took the brunt of the impact since he hit the bulldozer cockpit-first. He passed away several months later in 2015.

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Also in 2015, IndyCar driver Justin Wilson died the day after being hit in the head with a piece of debris resulting from a crash at Pocono Raceway.

The device is set to make its debut in competition on all 20 cars entered for the 2018 season opener, the Australian Grand Prix. That race is set to take place on Sunday, March 25th and is the first of 21 scheduled races throughout the eight-month season.

However, if Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsports team boss gets a certain tool in his hands, he might make an attempt to remove the Halo devices from the new Mercedes F1 W09 EQ Power+ cars driven by the team’s two drivers, who are four-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Here is what Wolff had to say about the device, according to ESPN.

"“I’m not impressed with the whole thing and if you give me a chainsaw I would take it off. I think we need to look after the driver’s safety but what we have implemented is aesthetically not appealing. We need to come up with a solution that simply looks better.“It’s a massive weight on the top of the car, you screw up the centre of gravity massively. As much as it’s impressive to look at the statistic that you could put a bus on top, this is a Formula 1 car.“The FIA has thoroughly conducted all kinds of tests and possible scenarios and overall, the Halo makes it much more safer for the driver. Whether there are scenarios where a driver is trapped, probably these scenarios do exist, but overall it is safer with the halo than without the Halo.”"

Obviously Wolff is kidding about cutting off the Halo devices with a chainsaw, but the point he makes about the Halo not being aesthetically pleasing is reasonable and has actually frustrated much of the Formula One community, including millions of fans. The question is whether or not Formula One can find a safe alternative to the Halo that looks better.

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IndyCar have recently tested a windscreen, but it is unknown as to whether or not they will implement it at any point this season or in the future. If they do, perhaps something similar could be used for Formula One. But for now, Formula One have the Halo device regardless of what Toto Wolff has to say about chainsaws.