Vettel suffers dizziness testing Shield

Sebastian Vettel provided some negative feedback after testing the Shield cockpit protection device during Friday practice for the British Grand Prix, complaining of dizziness.

At the end of Friday's running, Vettel revealed he had planned to carry out more running than he actually completed but said he was feeling the effects of looking through the device.

"I don't think I need to talk about the pros," Vettel said when asked for his thoughts on it. "Obviously we know what it is for. But I tried it this morning [and] I got a little bit dizzy!

"Forward vision is not very good. I think it's because of the curvature – it's got quite a bit of distortion, plus you get quite a bit of downwash down the straight pushing the helmet forward, so... We had a run planned with it but I didn't like it, so we took it off."

However, Vettel did not see an issue with the Shield in terms of the driver being able to get in and out of the car, with the device only extending slightly behind the start of the cockpit.

"For sure it doesn't help. Obviously getting in doesn't matter, but getting out is probably more about getting used to it. So that's not the main thing, I think."

The FIA's original intention was to next run the Shield at the Italian Grand Prix in early September, but it remains to be seen whether Vettel's feedback will alter its plans.

From a Ferrari point of view, Vettel was also testing an upgraded power unit on Friday but says he is yet to explore its full potential.

"On Friday you don't run maximum performance. This engine has quite a lot of miles to do over its life so you try to save it, but it's working and we didn't have any problems.

"It should [help Ferrari]. Obviously it's always a bit in a plan, it's on target. I don't know. Today was a bit mixed, for us. A bit up and down. I haven't seen much yet but it's fun to drive around here!"