TALKING POINT BLAH BLAH
R
ed Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo
tested a new Formula One head
protection device on his car at
the Russian Grand Prix on Friday with
opinions divided on the aesthetics if
not the effectiveness.
The Australian lapped the Sochi
circuit with the ‘aeroscreen’ fitted to
the cockpit before pitting to continue
regular practice without it.
“The first impression seems OK,”
Ricciardo had told reporters before
driving with it on track for the first time.
“It doesn’t really block any more vision
than what we do have already.”
The reaction on social media
was generally positive, with even
champions Mercedes commenting on
their Twitter feed that “it doesn’t look
half bad”.
Mercedes’ triple world champion
Lewis Hamilton was not a fan, and
said on Thursday, “If they’re going to
do this, (then) close the cockpit like a
fighter jet. That screen…looks like a
shield that the police use, a riot shield.”
“You’ve got this cool, elegant,
futuristic F1 car, and you’ve got a
crappy riot shield sitting on top of it. It
is a good thing to see that the FIA do
take safety seriously, it is a constant
thing that always need to be worked
on, as long as it doesn’t affect hopefully
the aesthetics and style and coolness
of F1,” added the Briton.
Hamilton added that danger was
part of Formula One’s appeal and that
drivers knew the risks that they were
taking and were willing to do so.