F1 Hungarian GP: 'Ugly' Halo against tradition of F1 - Palmer
Jolyon Palmer says he would be 'very happy' to see the controversial 'Halo' cockpit protection device scrapped following a lukewarm r𒊎esponse by Sebastian Vettel during its latest track outing at Silverstone.
The divisive concept - which has been revised from the original design first seen in March - reappeared during the Britishꦚ Grand Pr𒀰ix with a brief outing in FP1 on Vettel's Ferrari and again in testing on a Red Bull driven by Pierre Gasly.
Tellingly, Vettel - who has been one of the vocal supporters for such a device - admitted there are some shortcomings with the design, wiꦅth his words likely to be factored into a final decision to be taken soon that will determine whether the FIA🤡 will push on with a planned 2017 introduction.
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Having expressed misgivings about the Halo earlier in the year, Renault driver Palmer has rei🥂terated his view that the essence of F1 will be lost if it strays from the open cockpit formula and admits he would be happy to se♈e it dropped.
"I'd be very happy," he said. "I just think it's pretty ugly, it's against the tradition in Formu💟la One - I like the open cockpit. I think it's safe enough as it is otherwise I wouldn't be doing it if I was worried.
"There are other safety implications as well in terms of getting out the car and the Halo 2 I think is being revised as well so clearly there's something that's not ideal about that. I think at the moment having an open cockpit and traditional Formula One is where it should be. And the car is 🐓much better looking as well."
Palmer has previously commented that a cockpit protection device would be more relevant for a championship like th﷽e IndyCar Series following the death of Justin Wilson a🧸t the ꦑPocono oval last year.
