"I'm fine, I'm lucky to still be standing here, Halo saved me today. Thank you all for caring about me."
In the early morning of July 4, after suffering a serious rollover accident at the F1 British station, Zhou Guanyu reported to everyone that he was safe through his personal social media.
Zhou Guanyu said that Halo rescued him, and the entry "Halo system has made great contributions" also instantly became the number one searched.
So, what exactly is a Halo system?
The Halo system is dubbed "flip-flops" by fans because of its appearance - Halo is a system designed to provide drivers with adequate head protection in open-wheel races dominated by formula racing.
It is mainly used to protect the driver from flying debris and retains the open cockpit typical of formula cars.
Tests have shown that the Halo system can withstand a static load of 15 times the mass of the vehicle itself in the event of a car-to-car collision, which can significantly reduce potential injuries.
That is to say, this 7kg component can withstand a shock force of about 12 tons and is the strongest part of the whole car.
In the official description of F1, there is a more vivid metaphor - bearing the weight of a double-decker bus.
Plus, in vehicle-to-environment testing, the Halo prevents the helmet from coming into contact with walls or obstacles.
The Halo head protection system is made of titanium alloy and has been introduced to F1 since the 2018 season, but it was full of opposition at the beginning.
Since the Halo increases the weight by 7 kg, and the stability of the vehicle's center of gravity and the bearing capacity of the chassis are affected due to the appearance design, the cost of debugging and research and development of each team is increased.
From an aerodynamic point of view, Halo also changes the kinetic energy of the downstream airflow, especially the rear wing... It is even more suspected that adding Halo will increase the driver's escape time from the cockpit.
At that time, the manager of the Mercedes-Benz team complained, "If there is a chance, I want to use a saw to saw off Halo." Drivers including Alonso also expressed their dislike of Halo, thinking that Optional.
But then, Halo really began his life-saving journey.
In the 2020 F1 Bahrain race, Haas driver Grosjean's car lost control and crashed into the guardrail, the cockpit caught fire, and the car was broken in two, but Halo, the strongest part of the entire body, was not damaged, and the driver only fractured his ribs , with minor burns.
"Halo is the greatest invention," Grosjean said afterwards.
Accidents from Grosjean to Zhou Guanyu prove that Halo is extremely important to motorsport.
Some car fans said that it was Bianchi who exchanged his life for the determination of the F1 world to develop Halo.
The Paper reporter Qi Dong