Formula 1: Max Verstappen doesn’t believe halo device saved Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen does not believe that Charles Leclerc was saved by Formula 1’s new halo device at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

After Alfa Romeo Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc walked away unscathed from a nasty wreck at the start of this past Sunday’s Formula 1 race, the Belgian Grand Prix, many fans and drivers alike have praised the new halo device.

The halo was met with a ton of criticism upon its introduction to Formula 1 in the 2018 season, but in the 13th race on the season’s 21-race schedule, the feelings that an overwhelming majority of fans and drivers had about it took a 180-degree turn.

Here’s why.

Renault Sport’s Nico Hulkenberg, who started this nasty wreck and has been given a 10-position grid penalty for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix as a result of it, launched off his 18th place starting position on the starting grid for the 44-lap race around the 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps road course in Stavelot, Belgium.

However, the 31-year-old German carried too much speed off of this launch, and he was unable to slow down in time to avoid running into the back of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

This contact sent Alonso’s car into the air before it eventually bounced off the top of Leclerc’s car and onto the halo surrounding the head of the 2016 GP3 Series and 2017 Formula 2 champion.

Here is a video of this crash.

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Given how scraped up the Ferrari junior driver’s halo was following the crash, the praise for the halo begun in full force, as tons of people believed that had it not been there, Leclerc would have been seriously injured if not killed.

However, not every Formula 1 driver is giving the halo the credit that millions of people feel that it is due. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen does not believe that the halo did anything to save the 20-year-old Monegasque from injury based on the angles of the crash that he has seen following his impressive third place finish in the race.

Here is what Verstappen had to say about the matter, according to RaceFans.

"“The car never really virtually drops on top of someone else, it would always skid over the top. But because the Halo was sticking out so much, of course it gets hit. The more you build in front of a driver, the more chance it can get hit. I think even if the Halo hadn’t been there he wouldn’t have been hit anyway so I think they made it too dramatic.”"

Do you agree with Max Verstappen that Charles Leclerc would have been fine regardless of whether or not the halo was in place, or do you believe that the newly mandated Formula 1 device is what saved him from suffering serious injuries, if not death?