Technical Speak: What will the F1 HALO Mirrors look like?

As reported earlier, the FIA wish to move the F1 HALO-mounted mirrors to an area where a drivers’ view is not obstructed.

Although the FIA have been making attempts to find a new location on safety grounds. But it was redacted for procedural matters. However, the proposal does show what exactly the governing body is trying to achieve.

The location that was originally proposed by the FIA is higher and further out than the current mirror configuration.

The idea was for the centre point of the mirror to be 640mm above the reference plane and 450mm from the car’s centre point. The FIA also allow for a 5mm tolerance for the teams.

Earlier, the rearview mirrors had to be located between 200mm and 550mm from the car centre line and no height limit.

The new area lifts the mirror clear of the upper surface of the side pod and the rear wing. Due to the change of regulations in 2017, namely a wider rear wing. It meant that there was more chance of the view being blocked by the endplate.

So now, the FIA will be hoping that new rules can be agreed to come in to force later this year. Hopefully without the need of having to to the World Motor Sport Council to push through changes on safety ground.

Concerns were raised about lack of visibility and have grown this year. It was triggered by a near-miss between Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.

At the British Grand Prix, Mercedes also experimented with a new location for its mirrors. It was a bid to try to help improve visibility for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

However, nobody is sure when these changes will be implemented on the F1 cars, this year or the next.