Tom Cruise was at the F1 British Grand Prix this past weekend, and what happened on the track was as thrilling as any of his movies. On the first lap of the event at Silverstone, Formula 1 driver Zhou Guanyu's car rolled at 200mph for several laps before crashing into a grandstand barrier . Incredibly, the Alfa Romeo driver survived the accident without serious injury.
He later said he was another driver saved by the "Halo" safety system. What is this system and how does it work? What is Halo? "Halo" (originally "halo") is a titanium fence in the shape of a "Y" wishbone that sits above the cockpit of the race car and industry email list surrounds the driver's head. It's designed to hold the weight of a London double-decker bus - the equivalent of 12 tonnes of gravity resting entirely on the 7kg frame, which is clad in carbon fibre. Side view of black F1 car with Halo device Photo Credit: Reuters / BBC News Side view of a black F1 car with a Halo setup.
The introduction of life-saving "flip-flops" F1 racing has always been a dangerous sport, but since Henry Surtees in Formula 2 in 2009 and Jules Bianchi in the 2014 F1 Japanese Grand Prix Bianchi and Justin Wilson in an IndyCar in 2015 have lost their lives to safety concerns in recent years. Both Surtis and Wilson were killed after being hit in the head by debris from other racing cars. The Halo system was first trialled in F1