Red Bull will test its Aeroscreen head protection device during opening practice in both Spain and Monaco as it seeks to perfect the device ahead of a possible debut next season.
The Milton Keynes team trialled the canopy-style protection during FP1 in Russia to test driver visibility and to gain some initial feedback on its aesthetics compared to the Mercedes/Ferrari Halo device.
However there remain some problems to solve before it's given preference over the Halo, namely glare and rain/oil impairing vision.
Whilst tear-offs have been proposed, they can only be removed by mechanics during a pit-stop, therefore Red Bull hope to, and are confident, they can find a suitable anti-glare coating for the inside and a liquid-repelling coating for the outside to solve both those issues.
"Red Bull are going to run it again in free practice in Spain and Monaco," confirmed the FIA's Charlie Whiting. "This time we hope they will have sourced, and they are optimistic they can, some anti glare coating for the inside – as we understand it can be quite difficult where you have tall buildings, trees, low sun, and those sorts of effects that you will probably get in Monaco and Monza, where there are natural features.
"And there will also be a coating for the outside that will repel rain and prevent things sticking to it."
Meanwhile both proposals will undergo further testing at the hands of the FIA, with Whiting setting a July 1 deadline for teams to choose between the Halo and Aeroscreen for 2017.
"We have something called the free head volume," explained Whiting. "That is the space that has to be free to give movement for the drivers' head in order that it doesn't make contact with it.
"That is the next phase of work, which I am told should be completed within two weeks. Both the Halo and Aeroscreen need to satisfy the free head volume requirement, so we need to wait and see how that works first."
Discussion about this post