This morning, Daniel Ricciardo took to the Sochi track to give Red Bull's solution to the Halo device, the Aeroscreen, its much anticipated public debut.

The Australian ran the the Aeroscreen during his installation lap at the start of this morning's session to test visibility through the screen while at the wheel, having previously experienced it in the team simulator.

Prior to this morning's visual test, Red Bull put the aeroscreen through its defensive paces in two static tests, firstly at its factory where, with the screen fixed to the ground, a ram was used to project a Formula One wheel, ballasted to weigh 20kg, at the screen at 225kph. The high-speed impact wrecked the wheel rim and the tyre, but the screen remained intact.

Next it was off to high-tech screen specialists Isoclima for a ballistic test in which a 1kg projectile was fired at the screen at 230kph. Once again the object was deflected and the screen remained intact.

"It was different this morning running with the aeroscreen," said Ricciardo, "not having the wind rolling on me and the engine sound was different as well.

"The visibility was pretty good," he confirmed, "so first impressions were fine, it was driveable. Where we have the structure in place is pretty much where the mirrors are so I wouldn't say it hindered any more than we are now in terms of visibility. Peripheral vision was fine as well.

"The talk about open cockpits has been going on for a while and that's fair enough. It would be great to keep it as it is but obviously with accidents that have happened, especially more recently, I think not exploring this seems a bit disrespectful. The plan is to probably try it again on a different circuit with different scenery, a bit more undulation or something like that or maybe a night circuit. The lights could be interesting how they reflect off the screen so we'll give it a bit more running."

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