Teams meet to discuss Halo and RBR’s alternative

Red Bull Racing has submitted a design study for a canopy alternative to the Halo F1 cockpit protection option currently preferred by the FIA.

Engineers from five F1 teams – including experts on stress analysis – are meeting with FIA safety expert Andy Mellor in London today to talk about how to integrate the Halo, and it’s understood that the RBR idea will also feature in the discussions if there’s time.

The RBR idea features a combination of a “glass” material and carbon, as did a recent idea that emerged from Mercedes.

The key for the FIA is that the current Halo design has already gone through a lot of testing and there may not be time to complete that process.

“Obviously head protection is crucial,” said Christian Horner when asked by this writer. “Red Bull is making another submission for a canopy that we believe will be a safer option. It’s more of a canopy than a Halo. But it needs to be tested, which hopefully can be done very quickly.

“We have a committed a design study on evolving the FIA’s theme, and we feel there’s a viable solution.”

Asked if it could be readied for 2017, Horner added: “Why not?”