Verstappen: Halo praise 'too dramatic'

Max Verstappen believes the praise for the halo safety device after the crash at turn one of the Belgian Grand Prix was "too dramatic" but his Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo added his voice to those saying the device proved its worth in protecting Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc appeared to be saved from contact with a tyre of Fernando Alonso's car after the McLaren was sent airborne over the cockpit of the Sauber by Nico Hulkenberg.

Verstappen sees the incident a different way, however, and is not convinced that Leclerc would have been in peril without the cockpit protection.

"The car never really virtually drops on top of someone else, it would always skid over the top," he said. "But because Halo was sticking out so much, of course it gets hit.

"The more you build in front of a driver, the more chance it can get hit. I think even if the halo hadn't been there he wouldn't have been hit anyway so I think they made it too dramatic."

Ricciardo falls down on a different side of the debate. Although still not convinced by the aesthetics of the halo, he believes it has proven its worth as a safety addition.

He said: "When you see what happened, I think [Brendon] Hartley's onboard was the most telling one. You can see Alonso coming from the side, it looked like he was coming over the top but it came in from the side. It was going to be very close if the Halo wasn't there.

"I think it did what it had to do and I think it's nice for people who didn't support it maybe because at least now we've got proof that it likely saved Charles probably a very serious injury.

"I feel I was always 'for' the head protection. I don't think any of us were 'for' the look of it.

"I was always one to say, especially after [Justin] Wilson's crash in Indy[Car], I think it was in Monza that year, it was pretty clear. I was a bit vocal about doing something."