19/07/2017
NEWS STORY
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."