24/11/2017
NEWS STORY
If nothing else, this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will mark the end of the era of fully open cockpits, as next season sees the introduction of the controversial Halo device.
Never a fan of the safety device, speaking at the official FIA press conference, world champion Lewis Hamilton lamented the end of an era.
"It's the last race where the cars will look good," he told reporters. "I think from next year it's all downhill in terms of how it looks but safety will go up at least.
"Maybe start a new flip-flop brand next year and be successful in some way," he added.
"I think it's something that we will get used to," said Sebastian Vettel, himself no major fan of the device, "but there's no doubt that the cars look better the way they are now.
"We'll work on the aesthetics so that it will look fine also. So in the end it's probably less of a big deal."
"We'll make sure our helmets are polished this weekend, so they look good because they'll be a bit harder to see next year," joke Daniel Ricciardo. "It's fine, I don't think it's going to be as dramatic as most people make it out to be so, yeah, should be fine."
Check out our Friday gallery from Yas Island, here.