Zhou's violent crash illustrated life-saving value of halo

Zhou Guanyu's dramatic first-lap crash at last weekend's British Grand Prix once again proved the value of the halo on Formula 1® cockpits, says F1® correspondent and presenter at formula1.com, Lawrence Barretto.

Driving for Alfa Romeo, Zhou was clipped by the Mercedes of George Russell soon after the start of Sunday's race at Silverstone, flipping upside down at over 250km/h and skating across a gravel trap before clearing a tyre barrier and coming to rest against a trackside catch fence. Despite the violent impact, the Chinese rookie was able to walk away unscathed and is set to take his place in this weekend's Grand Prix in Austria.

Speaking to the In the Fast Lane podcast, Barretto says Zhou's escape shows that F1® should never be complacent in advancing safety measures for drivers, and that any remaining sceptics of the halo, introduced in 2018, must surely see the merit of its inclusion.

"I genuinely don't think anyone can say we don't need the halo after that," Barretto told the Australian Grand Prix Corporation's official podcast.

"If you look back to the time when the halo came in, there were so many people against it, within the sport as well as people who follow the sport. They just didn't want it.

"Zhou wouldn't have been able to walk away from that incident in the way that he did without the halo. You look at how significant the damage was to that car and where that car ended up, between the fence and the barrier, the sheer impact of it … it just shows we need to keep pushing on safety."

Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished third at Silverstone for his second consecutive podium finish, and Barretto still feels the sport's dominant team of the past eight years can have a say in this year's title fight between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari.

Mercedes has won seven of the past eight drivers' championships but is yet to win a race so far in 2022. With their results on the rise after a slow start, Barretto feels the team can play a prominent role in the final 12 races of the season.

"We could be talking about them regularly being on the podium, getting in the way," Barretto said.

"It's going to put pressure on the two teams fighting for the championship. When you've got Lewis Hamilton and George Russell with nothing to lose … they can take more risks, they can go for it and get their elbows out a little bit more. We saw at Silverstone where Ferrari had two cars and Mercedes had one car, but Ferrari looked the vulnerable ones in the strategic play."

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