Halo cockpit protection dumped in favor of Shield for F1
The F1 Strategy Group met earlier this week – with new boss Chase Carey attending for the first time – and agreed several Sporting Regulation changes for 2018, which will now have to approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
Chief among is the decision to pursue the “Shield” cockpit protection system rather than the Halo, which was hitherto the favored solution. The Shield is in essence similar to the Aeroscreen proposed by Red Bull.
In addition, aerodynamic restrictions around the engine cover will mean the end of shark fins and T-wings as we currently know them.
The FIA summarized the planned changes as follows:
-- A number of more integrated solutions for additional frontal protection have been studied, and the decision has been taken to give priority to the transparent ‘shield’ family of systems. The FIA aims to carry out track tests of this system during this season in preparation for implementation in 2018.
-- Changes in the regulation boxes around the engine cover have been made so that designs incorporating the ‘t-wing’ and ‘shark fin’ will be strictly limited.
-- Measures will be taken to ensure that oil will not be used as fuel. In addition, only one specification of oil may be used for any given power unit during an event.
-- Pirelli will be allowed to develop 2018 wet weather tire compounds using previous specifications of cars and wheel dimensions.
-- In the event of a red flag period during a race, the race will be resumed from a standing start
In addition, teams have been told that from as early as next month’s Spanish GP “the sporting regulations will be strictly enforced to ensure that visibility of drivers’ names and numbers on the cars will be clearer.”
The FIA also reported that Renault, Toro Rosso, Haas and Sauber, the only teams outside the Strategy Group, will now be invited to meetings: “Representatives from the non-member teams will now be invited to meetings of the F1 Strategy Group to have access to the discussions, demonstrating the effective commitment of both the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder to improve transparency in the sport.”
