Toto Wolff and several others were against the idea of Halo being incorporated into F1 cars. The most simple-looking safety guard on the car is now probably the biggest life-saving asset for Formula 1.
Since its introduction in 2018, it has saved multiple lives, the latest being Guanyu Zhou in the British Grand Prix. After seeing Halo being productive in saving the lives of so many drivers, including Lewis Hamilton in Monza back in 2021, Wolff now claims he is glad he was wrong.
The Mercedes team boss, who likes to be ahead of everyone in the most pressing matters, for once most gracefully accepted that he was wrong about his initial disliking of Halo.
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Toto Wolff is glad he was wrong about Halo
In Netflix’s Drive to Survive, Halo has been immensely praised in the narrative as it had decreased the severity of major crashes in the sport. In one of the episodes, Wolff spoke about how he was wrong to have reservations against the FIA’s decision to bring it in.
“You know, four years ago, I was fighting the Halo,” said Wolff to one of his engineers in Brackley in DTS episode season 4 episode 9. “Thank god, I didn’t win the fight.”
Wolff made all these comments after Hamilton’s Monza collision with Max Verstappen. The Austrian boss also claimed that there were tyre marks on Hamilton’s helmet from the Red Bull car.
The general consensus in the Mercedes factory was that Hamilton was lucky to come out unharmed from that crash. Otherwise, it could have been life-threatening.
Today the halo, which was introduced in 2018, saved 2 more lives. 2018, Spa, Charles leclerc. 2020, Sakhir, Romain Grosjean. 2021, Monza, Lewis Hamilton. 2022, Silverstone, Roy nissany, Guanyu Zhou. without the halo these drivers’ crashes would have been lethal or fatal. pic.twitter.com/WBOfF3CINh
— 6ayara (@6ayaraAircraft) July 3, 2022
The intensity was too dangerous but too good for F1
The competition between the two drivers was at its peak in 2021. However, as intense the rivalry got, it became more dangerous than anybody thought it could be.
The two drivers had major collisions twice in the season, and several times, they heckled each other on the track. So, while it was good for businesses to have such close battles as it increased the viewership, it also worried several people in F1 that it could result in something unfortunate.
Luckily, nothing like that happened, even though they went on to harm each others’ cars. Nevertheless, the season ended most controversially, as Max Verstappen won the championship after an unusual decision by the then-race director Michael Masi.
Also read: After Max Verstappen Speaks Up, F1 Boss Assures They’ll Gag No Driver
