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With much higher cornering speeds and different risks to consider IndyCar concluded an F1-style Halo was not the right way to go, so this season the US series is debuting its own solution called Aeroscreen. Tino Belli – director, aerodynamic development – gave Racecar the fascinating inside story of its design and build

- ANDREW COTTON

Motor racing purists, it seems, have lost the argument over whether single-seaters should carry head protection. Halos are now common on many high-level single-seaters, including Formula 1, F2, F3, and Super Formula. More importantly, since its introduction in 2018, the then much-maligned device has been credited with saving the lives of race drivers in F1, F2, and F3.

Now, two years on from the debut of the Halo, IndyCar will introduce its head protection system into competition for the first time. The Aeroscreen has been developed by IndyCar in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, and although the construction of the structure is totally different to that of Formula 1, it conforms to all FIA standards and has been tested to Formula 1 standards at Cranfield in the UK.

Yet while IndyCar may be late to the head protection party, that does not mean that the concept started late. In fact, Red Bull Advanced Technologies contacted IndyCar about the idea, and IndyCar’s head of aero, Tino Belli, went to speak to Red Bull in 2016, just when the series was starting work on the Universal Aero Kit (UAK18) that replaced the manufacturer bodywork that had been developed by Honda and Chevrolet. That conversation didn’t immediately lead to a relationship being forged, but communications started again early in 2019, and design work started in April.

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Red Bull had already designed a single curvature screen that it tested in Formula 1 as part of the FIA’s investigations into head protection, and IndyCar felt it was prudent to take its learning and turn it into a concept that was fit for the US series.