F1 2016: six things you need to know about the Austrian GP

As the F1 circus arrives in Austria, lots of the pre-race talk has been about ‘Halo 2’.

No, not the first-person shooter game, but the redesigned version of Ferrari’s head protection system. The ‘halo’ will be introduced across the grid next season after the FIA decided that, for now at least, Red Bull’s rival ‘aeroscreen’ wasn’t as feasible.

The tests at Spielberg on Thursday focussed largely on driver extraction, and bosses hope that the remodelled device – now made of titanium – will allow drivers to get out of their cars more easily in the event of an emergency.

More trials are planned for the British Grand Prix next week. It’s a sight everyone will need to get used to...

The Aussie has confirmed that he will be staying with his current team at least until the end of the 2018 season when his contract runs out.

There had been speculation that Ricciardo was in the running to replace Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari next year, with the 27-year-old saying as much himself only a few days ago.

However, despite recent team errors which in all likelihood cost Ricciardo two race wins in Spain and Monaco, he still believes he is in the best place to challenge Mercedes going forward.

His decision follows the news that Toro Rosso – Red Bull’s sister team – has taken up the option to retain Carlos Sainz for 2017, which will extend his stint at the outfit to a third season.

This year, F1’s rule makers have clamped down on the amount of information that teams can feed to their drivers over the team radio in a bid to tackle the perception that drivers are getting too much help during races.

By and large the new regulations have worked, although a grey area remains when it comes to the complex electronic controls which the drivers have access to via their steering wheels.

At the last race in Baku, Lewis Hamilton was caught out by an incorrect engine setting which hindered him for several laps, but the world champion was left frustrated as his team could not tell him how to fix the issue.

Sebastian Vettel told Autosport that he is “not a fan”, although teammate Kimi Raikkonen believes it isn’t “really any big issue”.

Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg has defended the measures, saying: “The fans were complaining that we're puppets out on the track and we're just doing what we're told.

“It's more challenging for us out there, we're going to be further away from perfection as a result as we saw, so it's OK.”

In a bid to get more fans through the gates this weekend, race organisers in Austria have promised that one lucky ticket holder will be given the chance to wave the chequered flag at the end of the Grand Prix on Sunday.

A stand will be constructed in the fan village where spectators will be able to upload photos or videos of themselves waving a replica chequered flag. The best one will get the gig.

“I think it's awesome that a fan gets to basically finish the race for us in Austria,” said Daniel Ricciardo. “If I was a kid and I got the opportunity to do that, I'd be blown away.”

Hopefully there’ll be no repeat of the finish to the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2002, when football legend Pele was handed flag duties: he completely missed Michael Schumacher crossing the line, leading to much confusion. Oops.

One of the biggest complaints from fans – and indeed, many teams – is that the distribution of prize money is too heavily weighted in favour of big names like Ferrari and Mercedes.

But having previously defended the status quo, it seems like Bernie Ecclestone’s stance on the issue is beginning to soften.

“I am going to have a good look at how things work to see if I can come up with something more equal for all the teams,” the 85-year-old told The Times earlier this week.

While there will be no move to simply divide the prize fund equally between the 11 teams currently on the grid, Motorsport.com reports that Ecclestone would like to give smaller teams the chance to earn a greater share “if they perform”.

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The Spanish veteran has hit out at criticism of his team, claiming that McLaren-Honda have made more progress in their first two years than Mercedes did at the beginning of their V6 programme.

“I am trying to push everyone," said Alonso. "Unfortunately in Formula 1 there is not a magic button you can touch, that from one day to another you can reach a certain level.”

Alonso has featured in the points just twice this season, although a fifth place finish in Monaco equalled the best result of his previous campaign. He still believes McLaren can be a title threat in 2017: is he right?