F1 how the halo works the titanium rod that saved

F1 how the halo works: the titanium rod that saved Zhou’s life

TO silverstone the worst was feared, but in the end Guanyuzhou He emerged unscathed from the horrific accident in which he was involved in one early in the race mega carom in which other cars were also involved. A bang that is also a praise of the higher security of formula 1 thanks to the latest legislation introduced by the FIA ​​in 2018 (number 8856-2018). The Chinese driver went out without trauma taken from his wrecked Alfa Romeo and taken to the medical center where his absence was confirmed fractures.

Two serious accidents at Silverstone, but the Halo saves everything
Safety cells, toughest single seater bodies, flame retardant suits for over 20 seconds (we all remember the accident of Grosjean in Bahrain in 2020, coming out of the fire in time haas after contact with the barriers), but also helmet, belt and gloves, up to the Hans e gloriole. Especially the latter is what saved his life to Zhou, in danger decapitation after the ‘overturn’ of his Alfa Romeo, after contact with the insane Mercedes of russell, who had met up with Gasly to end up in a spin against Guanyu (George then immediately ran to check the health of the Chinese, who ended up behind the Abbey’s barriers in Round 1). The Halo also saved the life of a Roy Nissany in the race for F2 a few hours earlier, in contact with the car by Dennis Hauger: landed right over the head of the first, which would certainly have been hit without the halo.

This is how the halo works
But how does the Halo work? First off, it’s the curved rod placed to protect the head of the drivers, introduced with the already mentioned 2018 FIA regulations on safety for drivers. An advertising system gloriole connected by three arms at as many different points on the frame (left, right and front the heads of the leaders driving single-seaters in the FIA ​​World Championships). It is made in titanium and protects the driver’s head and not only prevents that headgear Touch the asphalt, but also reject dangerous items that can come from the track. Here we recall the incident of Philip Massa in Hungary in 2008, reported a concussion for being shot in the head at over 200 km/h a feather weighing around 800 grams, detached from the compatriot’s Brawn GP Rubens Barrichello. With the Halo there would be no problems. For more security is thefig in the pilot’s helmet (Advanced Ballistic Protection): a kind protective beam made of carbon that reinforces the shell and protects it from impacts with objects larger than a bullet at high speed, ie. H. Up to 220 grams for 250 km / h.

Pilot survival rate increased by 17% with Halo
in summary, Holy Halo, as well as all the other tools that have significantly increased pilot safety in recent years. The last fatality in F1 is that of Jules Bianchi at Suzuka in 2014. In a simulation conducted by the FIA ​​using data from 40 accidents realthe use of the head protection system resulted in a 17% increase about the probabilities of the rate of Survive of the pilot. And here, too, the confirmation is given by the examples Monza 2021 and the aforementioned Bahrain 2020. Last year at Red Bull Verstappen on the Mercedes from Hamilton at the Autodromo Nazionale (Max’s bike would have landed on the Englishman’s head), in Sakhir two years ago the contact of Haas Grosjean however, with the cordons raising the flames, kept the French aware that this would allow him to escape the fire and coped well with it some burns on hands and feet.

Zhou roll bar destroyed, FIA ​​will investigate the causes
If you’re happy about Zhou’s saved life, you have to ask yourself why that is, though roll bar Alfa Romeo’s main driver is gone destroyedif this is designed to withstand weight impact seven times higher compared to a F1 2022 car heavier than in the past (the minimum rate is 795kg, +43kg compared to the 2021 single-seaters). The roll bar is the protective structure Above on the pilot’s head, designed to protect the pilot just in case tip over your car. Just look at the pictures C42 von Zhou turns around, the central structure positioned just behind Guanyu’s head and at the top no longer exists. And the Chinese was saved from his head only thanks to the halo. All this maybe because of too much weight also in the single seater at high speed of the car at the moment of impact on the asphalt before completing its run over the barrier. It’s useless to speculate now hello (the international federation) will investigate the causes of the breakage.