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The halo, which is fixed to the cockpit at three points
including a central pillar right in front of the driver, made
its debut in Spain earlier this month.
F1 outfit Red Bull, whose team principal Christian Horner has
expressed misgivings over the halo's design, are developing a
separate device but Whiting said it was unlikely to be ready in
time for 2017.
"I think (the halo's) going pretty well," Whiting told reporters
at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
"It's been tested quite extensively now, and I think it will
offer very good protection for a flying wheel, for example,
that's the main way it's been tested so far.
"We need to do a thorough risk assessment on it, we need to look
at a number of other related things like extrication. We've got
to talk to the medical crews about it. But I think it's going
quite well."
Improving head protection became a priority after the deaths
last year of Briton Justin Wilson, a former F1 racer who
suffered head injuries from debris in an IndyCar crash, and
Frenchman Jules Bianchi.
A working group led by Mercedes and Ferrari hoped to set
standard specifications for the halo by the end of May to allow
teams to incorporate it into their designs for next year's cars,
Whiting said.
Most drivers favor the halo, but some have reservations about
how quickly they could get out of their cars after an accident.
Whiting had few concerns about that, though, pointing to
Ferrari's test of the device in Spain.
"One team did put a halo on their car, and did get the driver to
see how quickly they could get out, and it looked perfectly
simple, and arguably easier, because the driver can get hold of
this thing and lift himself out much easier," he said.
"It looked very simple, I must say."
(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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