Fins, ears, wings sprout at Spanish test

Two teams have obviously taken their design cues from formula one rivals, as day two of the Barcelona test revealed on Tuesday.

At the first major test following the opening three races of 2008, most outfits have at the Circuit de Catalunya rolled out substantial and visible bodywork updates for their challengers.

The most obvious innovations on Tuesday were fitted to the Renault and Honda cars.

Fernando Alonso`s updated R28, which is already being called the `R28B` by the hopeful Spanish press, is fitted with a sizeable engine cover fin, almost identical to the piece featured on Red Bull`s current RB4 racer.

Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, was on Tuesday charged with trying Honda`s conspicuous `nose horns` at the wheel of his updated RA108 on Tuesday.

Similar winglets have been raced to good effect by BMW Sauber so far this year, but the radical solution - originally nicknamed `elephant ears` - actually made its first appearance at a test session last year, fitted to Honda`s 2007 car.

It should also be noted that several teams, including Red Bull and Renault, are now running the so-called front wing `bridge` element above their cars` noses; an innovation first popularised by McLaren.

On the other hand, teams are using the Barcelona test to dabble with the big aerodynamic regulation changes that are looming for 2009, which ironically feature the total banning of most extraneous `winglets`.

Source: GMM

15.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ testing    ▪ en.f1-live.com