MEXICO CITY, Mexico -- Kevin Magnussen says cockpit visibility with a Halo protection device attached is not as good as he had hoped.
Magnussen was among five drivers testing the latest prototype of the head protection system during FP1 at the Mexican Grand Prix and was asked for his thoughts after the session.
"I'm not a big fan," he said. "It feels weird to have something in front of you. It is like having a cap [with the brim] pulled down really far. You can see where you are walking, but you can't see anything else. I don't like it.
"The visibility is not as good as I hoped. So I think at tracks where there is elevation it is going to be a problem."
Magnussen's Renault caught fire during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix last month, highlighting concerns raised about Halo restricting a driver's ability to get out of the car. Asked if he tried an extrication test, Magnussen said: "Yes. I don't know the time, but it didn't feel as easy.
"I'm sure we all have our own opinion, but my opinion is that there are perhaps other things that need to be looked at before something like a halo or a closed cockpit or a canopy screen or whatever."
Magnussen believes F1 should continue to work on the safety initiatives it introduced following Jules Bianchi's fatal accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, as well as considering bringing back more gravel traps in run-off areas.
"What we have done with the Virtual Safety Car when there are trucks on the track is very good," he said. "And anyway that accident with Jules would not have been any different if he had had a halo.
"So I think the halo would work in a situation if you had a wheel hit the head or maybe a nose cone, which is what happened with Justin Wilson [in IndyCar], but in F1 there are other things that need changing first.
"I would have preferred in Spa [when Magnussen had a high-speed accident at Eau Rouge] to have gravel instead of tarmac runoff, because when you are going backwards and sideways for sure you prefer to have gravel. So I think there are other things we need to focus on first."