Today's meeting of the Strategy Group in Geneva saw all ten teams present, though only six - Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Force India, Williams and McLaren - had any say.

Though present as observers, following Ross Brawn's call to include all the teams, Renault, Haas, Sauber and Toro Rosso looked on the FIA essentially forced through the introduction of the Halo device in 2018 on safety grounds.

Having stalled on the introduction of the device this year, the FIA subsequently favoured another of its cockpit protection concepts, The Shield.

The Shield, which is remarkably similar to the Aeroscreen developed by Red Bull, made its public debut at Silverstone last Friday, Sebastian Vettel giving up after just one lap claiming that the device made him feel dizzy.

"I tried it this morning, and I got a bit dizzy," he told Sky Sports F1. "Forward vision is not very good, I think it's because of the curvature, you get quite a bit of distortion. Plus you get quite a bit of downwash down the straight pushing the helmet forward.

"We had a run plan with it but I didn't like it so we took it off," he added, also confirming that getting out of the car presented issues. "It doesn't help. Getting in doesn't matter. I think getting out it's more about getting used to it, it's not the main thing. It's probably more about getting used to it," he added.

Though it is understood that nine of the teams in attendance were not in favour of the Halo - the device equally unpopular with fans and most drivers - the FIA pushed its introduction through on safety grounds, subsequent to the approval of the World Motor Sport Council.

"Following the unanimous agreement of the Strategy Group, in July 2016, to introduce additional frontal protection for Formula One and the repeated support from the drivers, the FIA confirms the introduction of the Halo for 2018," said the FIA. "With the support of the teams, certain features of its design will be further enhanced.

"Having developed and evaluated a large number of devices over the past five years, it had become clear that the Halo presents the best overall safety performance."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by mickl, 21/07/2017 23:59

"@Stitch431 Now that it's been shown that there are methods to prevent the type of accident Jules Bianchi had the the next time there's an incident of such nature where injury occurs but could have been prevented a lot of lawyers are going to get very very rich."

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2. Posted by stackvideo, 20/07/2017 22:51

"2019 will see the introducing of a windscreen wiper."

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3. Posted by Stitch431, 20/07/2017 13:59

"With all race fans and all but one team against it, what on earth is your reason for this decision Mister Todt? Or should I say dictator Todt? What did Ferrari promise you? Or do they have something in hand against you personally? Not a sane person in the world can understand that if 99% are against it, you just push it through anyway. I had hopes now that Bernie left, things would turn for the better, But I think it is the wrong person who left... "

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4. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 20/07/2017 11:02

"I think we all agree if we are going down this head safety protection route, there has to be a better way than the halo.
Give all the teams 12 months to come up with something that is properly tried and tested and all agree on, difficult in F1 I agree.
As others have pointed out, the Halo would not have helped in many if not all the accidents that have bought this about, to take in one step further, how far are we off fully enclosed cockpits as per WEC?"

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5. Posted by Hobgoblin, 20/07/2017 8:34

"I agree with the concept of the HALO - or rather additional head protection - but I dislike the HALO.
I doubt that they have dropped the shield solely on the basis of Vettel's analysis, as those problems could be overcome quite easily - after all, they manage to put a cockpit around a fighter pilot...

As to dismissing it all on the basis that there have been no accidents in F1 that could have been helped by the presence of additional head protection, well (although not all F1, the concept is the same):

Jules Bianchi - doesn't matter what caused the accident, head protection might have helped.
Henry Surtees.
Dan Wheldon.
Justin Wilson.
Filippe Massa - HALO may not have helped, but the Shield definitely would.

I am sure there are more if I looked."

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6. Posted by nonickname, 20/07/2017 7:37

"Imagine Todt taking over bull fighting!"

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7. Posted by Jezzer, 19/07/2017 21:05

".....and so it continues, F1 slowly but surely disappearing down the toilet. Way to go Mr Todt."

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8. Posted by Barslug, 19/07/2017 20:30

"Motor racing has and will always be inherently dangerous. Why not just keep the field under the safety car all race? Wrap the drivers in bubble wrap? Exterior roll cages that surround the entire car? Where do you stop? The irony of it is, I see the h.a.l.o as becoming a step backwards as far as safety is concerned. From limiting vision to getting out of the car after an accident, it will be in the way more than it will help. I can't think of any accidents in the last decade in F1 that the h.a.l.o would have helped, but quite a few where it would have hindered the ability to extricate the driver.
I have remained a F1 fan throughout the years with questionable leadership making ridiculous decisions (double points, quiet engines, qualifying format, penalties) but I'm not sure if I want to keep watching if they are going to continue to make stupid decisions that go against the will of the teams and the fans. "

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9. Posted by Rhaycen, 19/07/2017 18:54

"I'm all for safety and not adding pointless risk to Formula One, but next year when Seb runs into the back of Lewis again or something similar happens .. the inevitable defense will be: "I couldn't see him because I have this metal pole in the middle of my view.""

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Halo device will be introduced in 2018

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