SILVERSTONE, Great Britain -- Sebastian Vettel has urged the FIA to conduct further on-track tests with the Halo cockpit protection device before committing to it for 2017.
Vettel ran the latest evolution of Halo on a single installation lap during Friday practice for the British Grand Prix, reporting that it was "not great" for visibility. Asked to expand on the reasons for his comments, Vettel said the protective loop around the top of the cockpit restricts some peripheral vision.
"Forward visibility was fine," he said. "Obviously it was just an installation lap, first run of the day, but forward visibility was okay. Obviously you still have something in the middle, but you lose quite a bit on top of you, obviously you are not looking in the sky all the time when you go round, but I think it needs some further running. I know the decision is up fairly soon."
The FIA was hoping to reach a decision on Halo by July 15th or before the end of the month at the very latest. However, Vettel said the governing body must be 100 percent sure it is the right move before committing to the design for 2017.
"I don't know what the results are on the actual research but I think it is clear what it is made for and it is clear what it is supposed to do. We just need to make sure we introduce something that is safer in all circumstances and we don't make any compromises.
"I think you will always have certain scenarios that you can't cover, but you try to cover as many as possible. That has to be the target."