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Daniel Ricciardo doesn't believe that the Halo will change Formula 1, claiming that the fans just need to get used to its looks. The controversial head protection device will come into force next year, to the outrage of many fans.
While the Halo is set in place to improve safety, many feel that the car's aesthetics will take a heavy blow. However, Ricciardo has urged fans to remember that while the cars may not look as pleasing, the racing will remain the same.
"I think people will get over Halo quite soon," the Red Bull driver told RACER this week. "It's only the look [fans] will need to adjust to, but the racing shouldn't change one bit. When the cars changed between 2008 and 2009 they also didn't look very good. But people got used to it, and then it became normal to have the tall and narrow rear wings. Even though it was a very strange Formula 1 car."
The FIA gave a presentation to F1 teams on how they came to the conclusion that the Halo was the best device for improving. It concluded that the deaths of Justin Wilson and Henry Surtees would have been prevented had the Halo been in place.
Ricciardo says that s afety had to be the priority: "I think there's been very mixed feelings between drivers and within the media and among fans," he said. "It doesn't look as nice as how the cars look now,
"It's more to save the freak accidents. If any part of the car flies off it can stop a fatality. People forget, and it's easy when there hasn't been one for a couple of years. People say it's all fine and safe, but every time something happens it highlights the dangers.
"It won't change the adrenaline of the sport, the excitement," he added. "All it's really doing is protecting us from a freak accident. The racing will still be the same. The risks we take are still the same. So I don't see any real big change."
Fergal Walsh
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
People will definitely get over the halo, but only if (big if) the racing is better (which has nothing to do with the halo). Those who say they will stop watching if the halo is implemented are the type of hardcore petrol-heads that made the sport great in the 90's and early 2000's, but also who ... [Read more]