FIA working on improved Halo aesthetics and integration. Certification of the Halo was an arduous task for the FIA last year.

The FIA is conducting research work on a future version of the Halo cockpit safety device which should improve its aesthetics as well as its chassis integration. The controversial component has been made mandatory this year in Formula One and in several the FIA-sanctioned junior series.

While many believe criticism of the Halo has been overblown and its presence will soon go unnoticed, the governing body is planning on developing its form and structure: “We have two main objectives,” – said Laurent Mekies, who joined the FIA as safety director in 2014 and had previously worked as an engineer for Arrows, Minardi and Toro Rosso – “One is the central strut, to see if we can have a reduction in thickness for visibility purposes. And secondly a better integration in the car, i.e. better aesthetics ultimately. So that’s what we would like to see in stage two.” – he added, as reported earlier today by leading US motorsport magazine RACER.

According to Laurent Mekies, certification of the Halo was an arduous task for the FIA last year which entailed the definition of standards and the validation of suppliers: “So the reality is that the last few months we have been trying to switch from a decision-making point to making it happen. So we had to get halo standards published, get halo suppliers certified, get halo suppliers to deliver certified parts, which in the end was an added complexity because not only did we do it for F1 but we did it for F1, F2 and Formula E pretty much in the same timeline. Now we are a few months later and the situation is quite good. Halo has been delivered, we have three suppliers now homologated, so we are now going to be able to put a bit more emphasis on the research on stage two.” – Laurent Mekies concluded, as reported by RACER.