Fernando Alonso has thrown his support fully behind whichever cockpit protection device the FIA chooses for 2017, saying F1 "does not need heroes".
With F1 set to introduce some form of cockpit protection for next year Red Bull became the second team to trial a device in Sochi, running its Aeroscreen for a lap during FP1 in Sochi, with Daniel Ricciardo giving positive feedback. Ferrari had previously run the Halo concept during winter testing but both have received mixed reviews in the paddock and among fans.
For Alonso the safety of F1's drivers overrides any argument about the sport's DNA or the look of either device.
"I think we need to trust the FIA on the decision," Alonso said. "They have all the information, which one is better, comfortable, safe, there are many factors that we are not in control of, we just look from the outside. Probably the Red Bull solution looks a little bit better from an aesthetic point of view but I think the FIA will decide the best one and hopefully there are more options coming because it is early days and hopefully we will find the best solution. It's a must that will come from next year hopefully and we need to find the best solution for the future.
"I think it's a must for safety. We don't need heroes in the sport right now and with so many incidents and many occasions in the last couple of years, probably all of the deaths that we had in Formula One and junior categories came from head injuries so I don't think we want anyone getting hurt in the future if there is a solution in place, and It seems a solution, so let's introduce it."
Alonso's compatriot Carlos Sainz thinks the Halo is the best concept on the table and has the benefit of retaining the open cockpit element of Formula One as it still allows ventilation for the driver.
"Personally I think it's not ugly," Sainz said. "It might not be as nice as uncovered but it's definitely not an ugly solution. The Halo, you can question it, it's a very strange item, no? It's not the Formula One philosophy, it's not a nicer solution to what we have now, but it's definitely not ugly. If it's safer I've always been a supporter of having safe items in Formula One.
"If you roll you can still jump out, you still have ventilation, still it's open cockpit, so it's Formula One, it's safer than the Halo because you have a full cover of things coming in; on the Halo you can still have things coming in. That's why I think it's a very positive step forward I think."
While most drivers thought the Red Bull canopy looked better, Williams driver Felipe Massa -- whose life-threatening injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix was one of the first incidents to trigger calls for cockpit protection -- prefers the Halo device trialled by his former team over the winter.
"The Red Bull solution was not so nice, to be honest, I think the Ferrari solution was better. But I'm in favour of driver safety, so it's important to find the best solution."
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner agrees with Alonso's assessment that the safety implications should be the overriding factor.
"It's a fine line," he admitted. "It's what you like and what you don't like. I think in general I'm not for all this stuff but if it works in the end you never have to forget there is a person sitting in there, and if we know we can do something to protect him we should.
"It's a hard pick between the two of them, between the two systems. I saw [the Aeroscreen] and on first glance it doesn't look too bad but then if you look longer on the internet you think, is it really nice? It's an opinion more than anything else. I need to get comfortable with it first but if it is for protection it's difficult to say no."