The FIA has approved the first supplier of the new Halo head protection system which is being introduced for the 2018 F1 season.
CP Tech, which is owned by Dutch group Nedschroef, has been approved to produce parts for the device. The firm’s said its parts “achieved the stringent requirements prescribed by the FIA Standard”.
The firm’s managing director Thomas Casey said the company had been selected for its “expertise in the complex mechanical processing of titanium and additional materials”.
“It is another lighthouse project that we can be proud of based on our experience of more than 25 years in the motorsport business,” he added.
Halo has been designed to deflect large objects from drivers, such as wheels, at impact speeds of up to 225kph. It has been in development since 2011 and the first examples have already been delivered to teams.
Halo will also be mandatory in Formula Two from this season and Formula E will begin using it when its 2018-19 championship begins at the end of the year. Most open-wheel championships are expected to follow suit by 2020.
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VVish
15th January 2018, 18:18
Cool, I recognised the brand immediately because there’s a Nedschroef factory in my home town; Herentals, Belgium. Nice to know they got it.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
16th January 2018, 0:24
Awesome ;)
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
15th January 2018, 18:21
Is the Halo going to be open season? Multiple companies making different halos, constructors choose their brand?
Like brakes, tyres (in the old days), etc.
Nathan Builder (@nathanbuilder)
15th January 2018, 18:30
The regulations allow for that, but it does depend on how many suppliers enter.
Damon (@damon)
15th January 2018, 18:40
“Multiple companies making different halos”
As for 2018, there is one FIA authorized and enforced halo design.
IJW (@)
15th January 2018, 21:37
I had read somewhere, that there would be only(?) 3 suppliers. One from the UK, one from Italy, and a third from somewhere else.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th January 2018, 7:28
open source you probably mean to say instead of open season :-)
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
15th January 2018, 19:00
I’m quite surprised at this for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I would have thought that instead of it being a ‘bolt-on’ fitment, it would be better to have halo as an indivisible part of the structure and made to an FIA-approved design.
Secondly, I thought that a couple of constructors had already received crash-test approval on their 2018 tubs. But is it that the halo is not included in the testing?
And thirdly, it’s already mid-January. How is it that the decision has just been made, or is this announcement late?
Joao (@johnmilk)
15th January 2018, 20:17
I subscribe to this questions and demand answers!
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
15th January 2018, 20:57
@nickwyatt @johnmilk I think this may refer to junior categories that will be adding halo over the next few years rather than F1?
Joao (@johnmilk)
16th January 2018, 18:31
@stefmeister there is some hints of that now that I re-read the article, but still think it is a odd time for the article. Not really sure at what was the purpose of this news if I’m honest
socksolid (@socksolid)
16th January 2018, 0:10
In one of the recent interviews ross brawn said they are looking at making the halo more integral part of the car and not be a bolt on. Obviously won’t make it for 2018 but hopefully 2019 is a possibility.
Nathan Builder (@nathanbuilder)
16th January 2018, 0:34
The whole structure of an F1 car is bolt-on. It’s all a bunch of pieces bolted together, right?
It’s down to how strong the bolts are, and those are easy to rate.
socksolid (@socksolid)
16th January 2018, 6:47
Why you gotta be like that :p
Phylyp (@phylyp)
16th January 2018, 4:43
Just because the halo is fitted on with bolts, it doesn’t mean it is weak. What matters is the path in which energy is transferred, and the stresses placed on the bolts (e.g. the halo can fit into pre-defined slots on the engine – which is the stressed member at the rear – and the bolts can just be to ensure the halo doesn’t pop out of those slots).
Lets give the designers their due – they know more about loading of structures than many of us, and won’t be making mistakes like using easily sheared off bolts as the key fitment for a crash structure like the halo.
Joao (@johnmilk)
16th January 2018, 10:52
@phylyp I think that was not in doubt, at least not for me. It was my idea however that teams would take the halo and better implement it with the chassis, at least to make it look like it has been a part of the car and not just an add-on, which is what looks like currently
Phylyp (@phylyp)
16th January 2018, 11:09
@johnmilk – Ah, ok. I am going to take a guess that the halo’s shape & build are standardized, to ensure that a) the required design parameters are met and b) that teams don’t start messing about with this in their search for performance (which would make it another thing that needs to be comprehensively tested as part of the survival cell).
By specifying the halo as a standardized structure, the FIA can focus their attention in crash tests to where the halo is mounted, knowing the halo itself is a known quantity.
Markp
15th January 2018, 19:38
I thought Aston Martin would build it to be associated with F1. Cheaper than engines but more within their capabilities. Think they pulled out though due to cost of carbon fibre they wanted a guarantee that if they built the halo any other halo manufacturers could only use a cheap plastic from recycled kids toys like they would.
BasCB (@bascb)
15th January 2018, 19:50
They would still have to have high tech titanium (and carbon firbre laying) techniques Markp. AM has neither.
Markp
15th January 2018, 20:20
Oh well. There’s got to be something for them. Maybe Aston will be the official new baggy dresses supplier for the grid girls.
BJ (@beejis60)
15th January 2018, 20:43
Unless FIA changed the spec, they’re supposed to be 100% steel.
f1bobby
15th January 2018, 21:29
:-(
joe pineapples
15th January 2018, 22:17
I thought it might have been Mothercare
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
15th January 2018, 22:27
I still think that when we saw the Halos this year, Williams did a far better job at making them blend in than the other teams. At least they made them white to match their livery. On the others, they just looked a lot more out of place. And same goes for one of the pictures above. If you make it black when your livery isn’t very black, it makes the halo stand out and look a bit odd. If you blend it in like Williams did, to me it looks so much better. Hopefully most teams in F1 will do that this year.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
15th January 2018, 23:30
@thegianthogweed The reason Williams ran a white one & others didn’t the past 2 years is because the one Williams ran was one they manufactured themselves in order to carry out there own evaluations. The one’s run by other teams were black as they were been bolt-on test rigs supplied to teams by the FIA for evaluation during practice & those test rigs were handed around to different teams so there was little point painting them Red for Ferrari one week if that same rig was going to be on a Mercedes the next.
With the Halo’s this year been an integral & permanent part of the overall car rather than a temporary bolt on test rig supplied by the FIA as has been seen until now the teams will be able to paint it whatever color they wish.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
16th January 2018, 20:49
Sorry for my misunderstandings for the reasons for this. I didn’t know that Williams used their own. But I still hope that teams will make them blend in with their car.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
16th January 2018, 10:01
Don’t get used to it – all of the halos will be black inside. Apparently anything otherwise will ‘distract’ the drivers. Amazing.
makdo
16th January 2018, 20:19
I think the whole halo will block out parts of the track and therefore distract the drivers. Why do we need this advancement as Alonso was fine in 2016 Australia whithout it?
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
16th January 2018, 20:51
Oh yes, I can fully understand that. But from the outside, it shouldn’t make a difference. Anyway if colors are distracting I think any driver could make an excuse for hitting a Force India last hear :D
JC
15th January 2018, 23:18
Just waiting for crocs to get in on the advertising opportunity now.
Oxnard (@montalvo)
18th January 2018, 19:19
You mean Havaianas?
CanadianJosh
16th January 2018, 2:34
Boooooooo!!
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
16th January 2018, 5:51
I hope they haven’t staked their business future on manufacturing the halo.
The whole thing could disappear very quickly if it turns out that visiblity issues (really fan feedback but the FIA cant say that) cause several major crashes early on.
The FIA might just reverse it’s decision as its been prone to do – what I needs now though is a valid reason because it’s a safety issue.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th January 2018, 7:34
I think there would be a solid bussiness case though. You have a full field of F1 and F2 cars for this year. And it will be implemented by other series from 2019 onward, so that means at least some 70 units already and probably fixed contracts lined up for 2019 already too with over a hundred units.
The company is an experienced specialty engineering company, they are used to working in smaller batches, and really don’t need that much extra investment to start building them @dbradock, so even if the Halo gets axed in 2 years time (it won’t), they really don’t have a great risk at all.
Shark Fins Rule
16th January 2018, 6:38
I’m boycotting F1 until they come up with something more visually appealing.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
16th January 2018, 9:56
We’ll miss you
JCost (@jcost)
16th January 2018, 8:15
HALLO!
Gary
16th January 2018, 8:46
Hmm, I thought they were going to select Birkenstock as a manufacturer.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
16th January 2018, 9:56
This is hilarious