Integrating ‘Halo’ with this year’s cars is a huge challenge for designers. That is the claim of Force India’s sporting chief Otmar Szafnauer, referring to the controversial driver protection that is mandatory from 2018.
“The time pressure was created by the Halo,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “We got the final specifications very late, but one also cannot underestimate the influence. It weighs 14kg and the FIA’s stress tests are strict. There is a lot of work to do,” Szafnauer added. “Then there is the aerodynamic damage, which is more than we had thought.”
Last year, Force India finished ‘best of the rest’ behind the top three teams and expects Williams to be an obvious challenger in 2018.