27/08/2018
NEWS STORY
In a few fleeting moments, horrific memories of Romain Grosjean's incident in 2012 at this circuit, and even Robert Wickens IndyCar crash at Pocono last week, sprang to mind as Fernando Alonso's McLaren was launched into the air following contact with Nico Hulkenberg and clattered over the top of Charles Leclerc's Sauber.
As the young Monegasque, who had been hoping for a strong points finish, asked "come on, what the ****", though he was aware his car was out of the race, he didn't appear to know how close he had come to being seriously injured.
As the smoke and dust settled, and the wrecked cars were removed from the track as the safety car was deployed, it became obvious that thirteen races into the season the controversial Halo device had proved its worth.
Tyre marks on the bodywork and the halo itself were testament to the fact that the youngster had had a lucky escape.
"Never been a fan of the halo but I have to say that I was very happy to have it over my head today," tweeted the youngster shortly after.
"I don't know how it would have ended up without it, but looking at it, I'm happy it was there," he subsequently told reporters. "I've been lucky on this one. Looking at the halo, it's not looking good.
"I got quite a lot of messages," he admitted. "My mum called me quite a lot of times. Everyone was quite worried."
{twittert=https://twitter.com/Charles_Leclerc/status/1033772402302484480}
"The Halo was a very good thing to have today," said Fernando Alonso. "I think for him, it helped, looking at the replay."
"That gave all the justification," admitted Toto Wolff, who pre-season had admitted to wanting to take a chainsaw to the controversial device. "As you know, I am not a fan of the halo, I think the aesthetics are terrible. But having saved Charles from harm and injury makes it all worth it. It could have been very nasty. I'm happy that we have the halo."
"I think what is clear is the significant tyre marks on both the chassis and the halo," said Charlie Whiting. "It looks like it's had a fairly hefty whack.
"It doesn't take much imagination to think that the tyre marks would have actually been on Charles' head. It would be a bit of a miracle if they weren't, had the halo not been there."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa, here.