IndyCar new windscreen does not have to look hideous

CART Champ Cars had windscreens for year. Here is Mario Andretti collecting his Borg Warner for the 1981 Indy 500 only to have the kangaroo court IMS family take it away a few days later

Just when the 2018 IndyCar bodykits make IndyCars look sexy again, like F1 with its Halo, will the new IndyCar windscreen make the IndyCars look hideous again?

Racer reports that Verizon IndyCar Series CEO Mark Miles met with a group of reporters at Circuit of The Americas on Saturday during the United States Grand Prix and was asked where the championship stands on introducing the custom aeroscreen it has in development.

"We think greater head protection is important," he said. "We're working on it. It won't be a Halo, it will be some form of windscreen that I guess we haven't put out for you to see yet but we're making good progress on something that I think won't really alter the look of our car. Drivers will be able to see through it, over it, so I think it's different approaches to try and address the same important issues."

Where Formula 1 has made a hard commitment to outfitting all of its entries with halo devices starting in 2018, IndyCar has gone from making hard statements regarding the implementation of its aeroscreen to softer, less committal language. Based on his answers at COTA, it would appear aeroscreens will indeed be coming to the spec Dallara DW12 chassis used by the entire IndyCar field.

"As soon as it's ready – it could be next year," he said of its introduction. "It isn't going to be in March, but it could be during the season. We've been working on it for a long time."