Red Bull Racing ran their new Aeroscreen cockpit protection concept in Russia earlier today, completing one test lap before returning to the pits.
The reason they did only one lap was because they wanted to get on with business as usual during practice, though as soon as Ricciardo got back, the team released two static tests videos they did during the development stages.
One of the videos shows an F1 wheel being fired at the Aeroscreen at 225 km/h (139 mph), while the other is of a one kg (2.2 lbs) ballistic test carried out at 230 km/h (142 mph).
As you can see, the structure held up well and we reckon that Ferrari’s Halo system wouldn’t have done much to protect the driver during that type of ballistic test where you may have debris from another car acting as a projectile.
Now that we’ve got a much better look at the car and what it’s like with the Aeroscreen installed, perhaps Lewis Hamilton might want to reconsider his “riot shield” comment, yes?
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