While many drivers have come to accept the Halo, Kevin Magnussen remains firmly against the cockpit device and has identified several potential concerns.
The new frontal crash structure, aimed at protecting drivers from debris or in certain crash situations, was made mandatory by the FIA for 2018 and fans have remained stubborn in their opposition mainly for aesthetic reasons.
Last week, all the drivers got the chance to adjust to the Halo as testing began and some initial visibility worries, including start lights and pit-stops, appear to be unfounded but the Dane still sees it as a potential distraction.
“Once you get into the corner it’s fine because you look to the sides and left and right of the pillar in the middle so it’s not a problem visually to see the corner,” he explained to Autosport.
“But it distracts your eye obviously when you change direction like chicanes and you have to move your vision across the pillar."
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Though the drivers are able to look up much more than perhaps anticipated, as they sit lower in the car than most cameras suggest, Magnussen also sees some potential issues through one famous corner.
“If you’re chasing someone in Eau Rouge you won’t be able to see if he makes a mistake at the top and spins if you’re down the middle part,” he claimed. “You won’t know if he’s in the wall or not.
“I guess the same at Austin Turn 1 where there’s big elevation, but we’ll see.”
More broadly, the Haas driver is simply not a fan of Halo, adding: “It’s very annoying. Ugly. Difficult to get into the car, difficult to get out of the car, difficult to get the steering wheel on and off, just awkward and annoying.”
