Magnussen doubts Halo will be introduced

Kevin Magnussen doubts the Halo will be introduced in F1, saying a new concept is likely to be developed by 2018.

With the FIA keen to introduce increased cockpit protection next season, the Halo was eventually postponed until 2018 as the teams wanted more on-track testing of the device. With a number of drivers testing the Halo at the last two races - including Jenson Button, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at Monza - Magnussen was asked if it was discussed in the driver briefing but believes the concept will never be introduced.

"I think it's the plan for most teams to run it at some point, isn't it?" Magnussen said. "If I could choose I'm not going to run it.

"I don't think it will come in. I don't think so. I think now they've delayed it they will come up with something better.

"They need to come up with something better. The Halo isn't going to go on. If it was then it would come on next year. They've obviously seen that they can come up with something better and they need more time to do it."

Asked if any other concept should be developed in private after mixed feedback to the Halo, Magnussen replied: "I don't know if it's better to have outside the public eye. It would probably be a quicker process to have it running all the time but you can't really have that in a season. We'll see how they get on.

"The FIA should have a car in a way, testing it, but that would be very expensive. Pirelli should have a car testing tyres and that would be very expensive as well..."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.