Sebastian Vettel and Jolyon Palmer have clashed on the extent that F1 drivers as a whole support the proposed 'Halo' cockpit protection device. Palmer suggested there is considerable driver opposition expressed in private, but Vettel hit back insisting that the vast majority are in favour.
A decision on whether to introduce the halo to cars for next season is thought to be imminent, and Palmer talking ahead of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim when asked the view of fellow drivers said that "most people I speak to are actually against it, but I think a lot of people don't really voice it so much in the press.
"I think there's a bit of a divide – some of the older guys prefer it and the younger guys don't."
Palmer is on the latter side, believing it is unncessary: "It was confirmed that it wouldn't have helped Felipe Massa [in Hungary in 2009]; it wouldn't have helped Jules Bianchi," he said.
"It would have helped Justin Wilson and it would have helped Henry Surtees but we don't have those incidents in Formula One because we're not racing on ovals. Brands GP [the circuit on which Surtees had his fatal accident] kind of might as well be an oval when you've got a very high speed corner out the back with a three metre run off, of course everything bounces back on.
"At Silverstone at Copse there's so much run off…I think it [the halo] wouldn't have saved a life in F1 for over 20 years, or even prevented an injury."
Palmer added too that the Halo would impair visibility at places such as Eau Rouge at Spa.
Vettel, when asked by Grand Prix Times about Palmer's comments, was however scathing of the Renault driver's position.
"I'm a bit surprised by these comments," he said, "as we had a vote among the drivers and I think 90-95% voted for it so I don't know why all of a sudden it comes up the way it does. I think it's the wrong impression.
"I don't think there's anything really that justifies death. We've always learnt from incidents that happened on track and we've tried to improve, and that will be the first time I think in human history that we've learnt the lesson and we don't change. So I think it's up to us to make sure it does happen otherwise I think we'd be quite stupid."
Nico Rosberg later backed Vettel's view, adding: "It's very clear, the large majority [of drivers] are definitely for the halo. A very large majority."
