Red Bull Aeroscreen debuts in Russia

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Red Bull has run its Aeroscreen cockpit protection concept for the first time during first free practice for the Russian Grand Prix.

The device was attached to Daniel Ricciardo's car for his installation lap at the Sochi Autodrom on Friday morning, allowing the driver to analyse visibility through the screen. Ricciardo said on Thursday the Aeroscreen offers a less impeded view than the Halo due to Red Bull aligning the supports with the car's wing mirrors.

Following the run, Red Bull released footage of the Aeroscreen going through FIA tests to deflect a wheel at 225kph.

The device was only used for the installation lap before it was removed from Ricciardo's car. The FIA are likely to choose between the Aeroscreen and the Halo device as cockpit protection to be introduced in 2017.

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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.