The FIA presented an alternative head protection device to drivers at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday, known as the Shield.
Formula One has agreed in principle to bring some form of cockpit protection into the sport for 2018 after a long and varied research project into how to protect drivers' heads from flying debris. The Halo device was trialled throughout 2016 after teams and the FIA decided to postpone its introduction a year from this season to 2018.
With driver opinion split over the need for cockpit protection and how to implement it, the FIA has been working on a new device known as the Shield. Full details have not been made public, but it is believed to be a more visually appealing design with some similarities to the Aeroscreen trialled by Red Bull at last year's Russian Grand Prix (and shown above).
"We got to see this intermediate option that they called it, the shield, something in between the Halo and no protection basically," Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson said. "More closer to the Aeroscreen that Red Bull tried.
"For my personal opinion, it's more like either we don't do it or we do it fully. To do something in between I'm not sure about that, maybe it's better not to do it or do it all the way, let's see what they come up with. This was a very first sketch in this project so maybe if they give it a bit more time they will come up with some more facts around it, because obviously they're not sure how much protection this will add. "
Haas driver Romain Grosjean, who is against the idea of additional head protection, added: "My feedback hasn't changed, I'm against Shield, Aeroscreen or Halo. I think Formula One is back to where it should be, back to really cool cars, aggressive cars and I don't want to put any stuff on that could destroy what we've just built."
However, Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz is in favour of head protection and welcomes the attempt by the FIA to come up with a better looking solution than Halo.
"Quite a lot of investigation has gone on now by the FIA, which I fully support because it means they are taking the situation seriously and trying to find the best compromise between safety, good-looking, futuristic - because one thing the halo lacked was this futuristic, F1 look that the cars should have. They are looking into it, finding new solutions and we are happy for them to keep researching and coming up with new ideas to implement ASAP."
A final decision for the additional cockpit protection in 2018 is due on April 30 of this year and requires a majority approval from teams.