Formula 1 has ramped up its safety features over the years and halo is one of the sport’s leading innovations. Multiple examples show how the halo has saved the lives of F1 drivers over the years. Now, Marques Brownlee revealed an interesting finding about Ferrari’s halo and how Bitdefender used the space to advertise itself.
Speaking on this, Brownlee, during one of his recent YouTube videos shared, “So you can bet that’s why Bitdefender wanted their logo specifically on the halo of the team Ferrari car. So Bitdefender is a leader in cybersecurity which means they value innovation, safety, and quick reactions which is tied right into F1. So you can see why it makes sense for Bitdefender’s logo to be on the most important safety features of the cars.”
Admittedly, Bitdefender, a tech firm that’s worth $600 million, currently has a multi-year partnership with Ferrari. Their logo is even visible on the helmets of the team’s drivers.
However, the finances of their partnership are not public. Therefore, it is hard to understand how much Bitdefender pays Ferrari to flaunt their logo in the ‘shield’ that saved Charles Leclerc once.
How did the halo save Ferrari star Charles Leclerc and others?
The start of the 2018 Belgian GP saw multiple cars lock up and crash into each other. Among the group of cars were Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, and Nico Hulkenberg who suffered the most damage. However, for Leclerc and Alonso, it was terrifying.
As the cars locked up, Alonso’s McLaren jumped over Leclerc’s Sauber and was torn into pieces. Luckily, the halo saved the Monegasque driver who saw the McLaren drop on his halo and go over him.
Apart from Leclerc, other drivers got saved due to the presence of the halo as well. Lewis Hamilton is one such driver after his horrific crash with Max Verstappen in Monza in 2021.
Hence, it is fair to say that the halo has been one of the most precious safety equipment in F1 to date. This is the case even though the introduction of the halo received ample opposition from drivers and team principals initially.
