Hello again to the halo

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Today's Free Practice 1 session was brought to you by the letter 'H', as in the word Halo, with several drivers getting a chance to try out the new cockpit protection device this weekend at Spa.

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the morning with the Halo attached, while other drivers trying out the new system were Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg (pictured here.)

Opinion remains split about the aesthetics of the device and queries have been raised about how it would fare if the car went upside down or caught fire; but in terms of driver head protection there's no doubt that it could save lives.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.