Tech F1i – Belgian GP analysis

©XPB Image & Wri2

ADAPTING TO HALO

With the FIA mandating the Halo cockpit protection system from 2018 onwards, F1 teams have been eager to measure the device’s impact on car design, especially in terms of aerodynamics.

McLaren used the Friday practice to mount on the engine cover an aero rake fitted with Pitot sensors so the team could study how the air flows in the wake of Halo.

The system came without any aero fairings on Vandoorne’s MCL32, but these will be allowed next year in order to minimise turbulence from the device.

“There's a bit of wake into the airbox which is slightly painful, but the regulations allow a fairing which will help,” Renault chassis technical director Nick Chester told Autosport.

“I'm sure that'll get debated into how much we can do with the fairings. We'll be allowed a little bit of fairing, so we'll fair the front junction in, fair the top edge around the driver's head a bit.

For Chester, the biggest challenge stemming from Halo is not the extra turbulence but the new loads that the chassis will have to withstand, as well as the late timing to include the element on the 2018-spec design.

The device must be able to resist loads corresponding to a 20kg wheel being hurled at the cockpit at 225kph. These will transfer to the Halo mounting points on the chassis.

“It knocks on big time to the chassis definition,” Chester added.

“It's a little bit painful as we're right into that process of trying to finalise our chassis schemes and the loadings from it are quite big so it affects all the structure in the chassis. It has quite a big impact.

“Outside the chassis it won't have much of an effect on car performance, it's just the actual design of the chassis to take the loads which is difficult.”