Halo did not delay Hulkenberg extraction – Whiting

FIA Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting says Nico Hulkenberg’s extraction from his Renault car was not delayed by the Halo following his in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg was launched into a terrifying roll after making contact with Romain Grosjean’s Haas on the opening lap in Abu Dhabi, with his Renault F1 car coming to rest upside down against the barriers at Turn 9.

When asked about concerns over whether the Halo prevented Hulkenberg’s extraction from his car, Whiting replied: “Not at all. We knew he was okay.

“There’s nothing to worry about there. The routine under those circumstances is to put the car back on its wheels.

“Once the car was back on its wheels, which has to be done carefully of course, he was able to get out by himself. It was very controlled from what I could see.

“Our medical delegate was more than happy with the way it was done. It all worked exactly as it should.”

Hulkenberg said he felt “helpless” after “hanging like a cow” and urged marshals to get him out when a small fire broke out at the rear of his Renault car.

Whiting insisted race control had the situation under control.

“When you have an accident like that, the radio from the car is automatically routed to race control, so that we get immediate information,” Whiting explained.

“Drivers normally say ‘I’m fine’ or ‘I’m okay’. So we get that and we relay that to the to the doctors or on the way to the scene so they know that he’s okay.

“And then they can take their time to get the car righted and just let him get out.

“Quite clearly it’s one of the sort of accidents that Halo was designed to help with because it provides more space for the driver once the car is upside down,” he added.

“You may have seen some of the tests we did during the prove-out phase of the Halo involved putting the car on its top with a Halo and making sure the driver could actually get out of the car.

“That was one of the things we wanted to make sure was still possible.”

RADIO: “Nico, are you ok?”

HUL: “Yeah – but I’m hanging here like a cow… get me out of this car!”#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tDNTvGFAJQ

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25, 2018