The halo saved two drivers through the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, with a 1964 world champion John Surtees instrumental in its adoption following the death of son Henry – but what happened to him?
Toto Wolff said he’d take a chainsaw to it. Lewis Hamilton said he’d refuse to race with it and Romain Grosjean did not like the sight of it.
It’s fair to say the halo had a difficult birth in F1 as the FIA looked at implementing cockpit head protection onto cars with tests in 2016 and 2017.
A variety of systems were evaluated – including a shield and aeroscreen, before the halo was selected and made mandatory for the 2018 season.
It has saved the lives of Hamilton, Grosjean and Zhou Guanyu, who were both injured in the first lap accident.
John Surtees, 1964 world champion and father of Henry Surtees was a key figure in pushing F1 to implement the halo.
Henry Surtees: What happened?
Henry Surtees: What happened?
Henry Surtees, the latest second-generation racing driver, progressed through the ranks to reach FIA Formula 2.
This is not the FIA F2 that we know today – which was being run under the GP2 moniker at the time.
His start to 2009 was mixed. Only one point finished in six races, and Brands Hatch placed second on July 18th.
Surtees was then involved in a fatal collision with Jack Clarke’s tyre.
Surtees was traveling at around 100 mph at the time of impact, and the tyre assembly weighed in at 29 kg (64lb).
He was left with irreversible head injuries and was declared brain dead.
John Surtees advocates for a halo
John Surtees became vocal in his support for cockpit helmet protection after Henry’s death.
Henry’s accident was one of many the FIA simulated during its test period of the halo, with results showing it could have saved his life.
John is still the only driver to win the world championship on four wheels, and on two. He even encouraged Hamilton to consider the benefits of the system during the trial period.
John Surtees, who was 83 when he died in March 2017, was the year before F1 got the halo.
Since then, however, drivers who have been saved from the halo include Hamilton and Grosjean, Charles Leclerc as well as Tadasuke Makino and Alex Peroni in the F1-F2-F3 package.
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