Having banged on about the need for forward-facing cockpit protection ever since my mate Vittorio Brambilla was knocked unconscious by a flying wheel at Monza in 1978, I am of course pro-halo. As good as it feels to talk about F1 drivers being wimps, reality is different when someone gets hurt. And I've been to enough racing drivers' funerals in my time - 15 before I turned 30 - not to want to attend another.

So whenever I feel the urge to join the clamour and resist the halo I make a positive effort to think of Tom Pryce, or Markus Hottinger or Mike Spence. Then I keep my mouth shut.

That said, I'm finding that it's taking too long to get used to them. Everyone is saying "after a while you don't even notice the halos" and so initially I took that at face value. I assumed it would be the same as big air boxes or wide noses: everyone had them and they quickly blended into the scenery.