FIA says Aeroscreen not scrapped yet

Jul.4 - Ferrari will try again to debut the updated 'Halo 2' cockpit protection this weekend ahead of the British grand prix.

The Maranello team intended to run the revised, titanium technology with a modified cockpit position over an installation lap in Friday practice in Austria, but Sebastian Vettel's car developed a technical problem and the Halo run was aborted.

But it is now believed that 'Halo 2' will make its appearance this Friday at Silverstone.

It comes after the FIA shelved for now the rival, Red Bull-devised 'Aeroscreen' concept, with Red Bull saying it did not have the time or resources at the moment to do necessary developments.

That was bad news for some people, who believe that the open-topped, windshield-like device is more aesthetically appealing than Halo.

"This is about safety, not beauty," Australian Daniel Ricciardo is quoted by Speed Week, "but I have always said that the windshield solution looks better than Halo.

"I think it would be a real shame if that project was stopped."

The FIA's safety chief Laurent Mekies, however, said Aeroscreen has simply been put on the back burner.

"Development of the Aeroscreen is frozen only for 2017," he reportedly said.

"We had a deadline and would have struggled to get two different concepts ready in time. But when we have finished the Halo, I am sure that we will then look at Aeroscreen very closely again," Mekies added.

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