McLaren tested a higher front nose at the Mugello test last week.

Backmarker Marussia aside, the famous British team is the only team in 2012 to have resisted the temptation of running a high ‘step’ nose, in the wake of new safety regulations.

McLaren was the early frontrunner this season with its MP4-27 car, but Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton struggled notably last time out in Bahrain.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the team quietly tested the significant nose development on the final day of Mugello testing last Thursday, with test driver Oliver Turvey at the wheel.

The report also speculated that McLaren experimented with an adjustable brake duct system at Mugello, which might be used to regulate tyre temperature for the finicky 2012 Pirellis.

The system would have to be adjusted by the mechanics during a pitstop.

Years after F1′s ‘spygate’ sagas, the issue could be set to return to the very top of the governing body’s agenda.

Force India claims Caterham and their common former wind tunnel partner Aerolab were this week “found liable” by a British court of using Force India data for the Team Lotus car of early 2010.

Vijay Mallya’s Silverstone based team said the ruling has been “referred for the consideration” of the FIA.

But Aerolab has hit back, insisting the judge “entirely rejected” Force India’s charge of “systematic copying”.

“On the contrary, such misuse as I have found to have occurred mainly consisted of opportunistic copying of CAD files by CAD designers in order to take a short cut,” the wind tunnel company quoted judge Justice Arnold as saying.

Nonetheless, Caterham was ordered to pay EUR 25,000 to Force India, but not the 18 million requested by the team.

“We were deeply disappointed with the damages award,” Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley told the Guardian.

He said Caterham/Aerolab did not make a simple “short cut” in copying the CAD files, but copied “front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser”.

“The judge might say it’s not systematic but in my view it’s pretty extensive,” added Fernley.

Force India is expected to appeal.

And if the FIA intervenes and charges Caterham with theft, “it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years”, wrote Guardian correspondent Paul Weaver.

“And that is before any fine.”

After all the pre-season hype, the Melbourne paddock banter about its clever F-duct system and a strong showing in qualifying, Mercedes failed to shine in last Sunday’s season opener.
The situation has many paddock regulars confused as to just how good the new W03 really is.

“Good question,” Michael Schumacher told Bild newspaper at an event this week in Malaysia. “We don’t know yet.”

Agreed Finnish commentator and former F1 driver Mika Salo: “It’s going to be interesting.

“Malaysia requires a lot more from a car aerodynamically than does Australia.

“I am sure McLaren will still be at the front, but Red Bull and Mercedes will probably be closer.”

So what happened to Mercedes’ early promise in Australia?

“In the race we had some problems, especially with the tyres — they degraded too quickly,” revealed team boss Ross Brawn.

But for Sepang, “We have an idea about how we can get it under control,” he added.

If that is true, then Sir Jackie Stewart is looking forward to seeing “the old Michael Schumacher” for the first time since he initially retired in 2006.

“He is driving well again,” the famous Scot told Kolner Express newspaper, “but so too is Nico Rosberg.

“They have a much better car than last year, and Michael is finally showing what he is capable of.

“I don’t know if that will be (good enough for) victories, but for sure we will see him again on the podium,” added Stewart.

It did not take long for F1′s first technical controversy of the 2012 race season to erupt.
Asked about Mercedes’ F-duct system that reportedly works in conjunction with the deployment of DRS, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: “Are they allowed?”

The FIA’s Charlie Whiting says yes. “I cannot see a rule that prohibits it,” he said.

“What is not allowed is the movement of the driver to generate an aerodynamic effect,” he is quoted by Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo.

So at least for now, the other teams will have to react, amid talk the concept is worth several kilometres per hour in a straight line.

“We’ll have to have a look at it,” confirmed Horner.

But according to BBC analyst and former F1 designer Gary Anderson, Red Bull and Ferrari – and maybe others – have reacted already.

They “appear to have a different system and I’m struggling to understand how it complies with the rules”, he said.

“I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this subject”, Anderson added.

Also legal for now are all the teams’ different interpretations of the new exhaust rules — even the controversial Red Bull’s.

“As far as we’ve seen so far, they all do comply with the rules,” confirmed Whiting.

Sam Michael is amazed any formula one team is considering removing its F-duct system for this weekend’s Italian grand prix.

It first emerged that McLaren, the pioneer of the rear wing-stalling concept, was contemplating running a non-F-duct layout for the high speed circuit.

Reports said that while the device would seem to be ideally suited to the famous venue, the unique low-downforce configuration might mean that weight-saving and drag-reduction is the better solution.

It then emerged that Renault is also considering removing F-duct for Monza, amid rumours Ferrari could also trial a conventional wing solution in Friday practice.

“Like several other teams, we too are evaluating whether we can make the device work at Monza,” admitted Renault’s James Allison on Monday.

But at Spa-Francorchamps recently, Williams’ technical director Michael was amazed some teams were contemplating not running an F-duct at Monza.

“I don’t really understand that.  I don’t know where that story came from to be honest.  I think someone was just playing around,” the Australian told reporters.

Michael said using an F-duct at the Autodromo Nazionale is a “no-brainer”.

“On the Monza (F-duct) wing that we’ve got, it’s a massive drag difference.  So I don’t know why you wouldn’t do it.

“It’s a stalled wing, so if the wing stalls then it stalls.  I think everyone will run it,” he added.

After Friday practice in Valencia, it was still not clear whether Red Bull will use its improved F-duct system for qualifying and the race.

The team used an initial version of the downforce-stalling concept in practice in Turkey, but then decided to leave Adrian Newey in the factory to develop it rather than take the famous Briton to Canada.

The RB6 was fitted with a developed F-duct on Friday in Valencia, where Sebastian Vettel came within mere thousandths of beating Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to top spot.

“When the system is working, it is a big help,” German Vettel is quoted as saying after practice by the German news agency SID.

As for how it worked on Friday, he added: “In the morning it was still not so good, but in the afternoon better.”

In a post-session statement, the 22-year-old added: “We need to see if we keep the F-duct in the car, we need to confirm that, but all in all I think the pace was promising today considering this shouldn’t be our strongest track.”

(GMM)

Sebastian Vettel for the weekend began on schedule in Valencia. Only around the blink of 56 thousandths of a second he landed in his Red Bull behind the acclaimed by the Spanish fans Fernando Alonso, Ferrari retreaded. “We were on a track that we really is not so, pretty good move. But it will be tight, as in Canada,” says the runner.

Vettel was another 88 thousandths of a second faster than his Australian team-mate Mark Webber, who was third place, that the “bull” quickly on the long straights of Valencia on the road. This could have lain on the “second air” for Red Bull set to an unsatisfactory trial in Istanbul for the first time back on their own version of the invented competitor McLaren duct system, which allows greater speed.

“In the morning it was still not as good in the afternoon then better,” said Vettel, who hopes to use one in the running. If the system working, “then it is a big help.”

(TMS)

Williams will try a developed version of its F-duct system at the Valencia street circuit this weekend.

The British team’s interpretation of the McLaren-like concept first appeared in China, but technical boss Sam Michael said then that he expected it to take “a couple of months” to perfect.

Very little about Williams’ F-duct – called the ‘blown rear wing’ by the Grove based team – has been heard since.

But on Monday, the team announced that the innovation will feature on the FW32 alongside some other new parts at the European grand prix.

Williams, however, referred in the media statement to its Valencia-spec F-duct as “the development blown rear wing”, indicating that the component may not be fitted for qualifying or the grand prix.

“We’ll have more new parts for this race but we’ll have to wait and see what improvements they bring to the car,” said driver Nico Hulkenberg, whose teammate Rubens Barrichello won at Valencia in 2009 at the wheel of a Brawn.

Hulkenberg added: “We are inching a bit closer to the top ten, as we showed in qualifying in Montreal, but we have to continue pushing and gain more tenths to get into the top ten consistently.”

(GMM)

Mercedes, McLaren and Renault look set to become the next formula one teams to emulate the unique exhaust layout of Red Bull’s 2010 car design.

With the RB6 proving the most consistently competitive chassis of the 2010 season so far, it has emerged that Ferrari’s Valencia-spec upgrade features low-mounted engine exhausts.

Rival engineers believe the layout, pioneered by Adrian Newey, allows air to be channelled more efficiently into the downforce-producing double diffuser.

The benefit, with also the fast-moving exhaust fumes channelled through the diffuser, is believed to be up to half a second per lap.

“We have a reasonably big upgrade that we are fighting to have for Silverstone, and if that is there then I would be disappointed if it is not a much bigger step than that,” said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

And on the Auto Plus blog of the respected French journalist and commentator, Jean-Louis Moncet said Mercedes’ W01 car will also be modified for the new exhaust philosophy by the time of the British grand prix in July.

It is believed that, while the new Mercedes might even be ready for the streets of Valencia this weekend, a similar upgrade by Renault is also in the works.

Mercedes GP chief executive Nick Fry admitted that the Brackley based team is focusing on improving its F-duct system as well as implementing “the special exhaust system” seen on the Red Bull.

“If we can get both of those things on the car then we’ll be in a lot better position,” he said.

Team boss Ross Brawn has also admitted that “aspects” of Red Bull’s RB6 car will appear elsewhere in pitlane “over the next races”.

“For instance, I know that everyone is looking with interest at their exhaust system,” he confirmed.

(GMM)

Jun.18 (GMM)  Red Bull is bidding to return to dominance on the streets of Valencia next weekend by using an F-duct system.

With Red Bull earlier looking set to walk the 2010 title, McLaren crept onto the pace in Turkey and then leapt to the top of the championships with one-two victory in Canada last weekend.

Red Bull used its initial version of McLaren’s downforce-stalling F-duct concept in practice for the Turkish grand prix, but then decided to develop it further rather than take it to Canada.

Valencia, like the long straights and slow corners of Montreal, is another circuit that is expected to play into the hands of McLaren and the British team’s original F-duct.

Vettel was the highest placed Red Bull in Canada with just fourth place, but on Friday he said the North American round is now in the past so that the team can “fully concentrate” on Valencia.

“There, with the F-duct system we are getting an important part on the car,” he told Germany’s Auto Bild Motorsport.

“Our technical chief Adrian Newey did not come to Canada in order to put the finishing touches on the new system at the factory,” added the 22-year-old German.

Jun.11 (GMM) Mercedes engines and F-ducts on Friday led the pace during opening practice for the Canadian grand prix.

As expected at the unique Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it was the most powerful engine allied with the downforce-stalling ‘F-duct’ technology that looks the ideal package.

The four Mercedes-powered McLarens and Mercedes cars monopolised the top four positions at the end of the morning 90-minute session, with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel just fifth.

“It is a circuit that should play to the advantage of the Mercedes-powered teams and the teams with the F-duct — and we have neither!” laughed team boss Christian Horner.

Mercedes, whose Michael Schumacher ran McLaren’s Jenson Button close for the fastest morning laptime, is believed to be running a more refined version of its F-duct system this weekend.

“When it works properly it is a very, very powerful tool — and we are persevering with it,” said team boss Ross Brawn.

Jun.10 (GMM)  Several more races could pass before Red Bull is ready to race a McLaren-style F-duct system.

The Austrian team tested an early prototype of the downforce-stalling concept during the practice sessions in Turkey, but it is believed the F-duct will not re-appear at all this weekend in Montreal.

According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, the subsequent Valencia and Silverstone rounds might also pass without a race-able version of the F-duct fitted to Mark Webber or Sebastian Vettel’s RB6 cars.

The report said the German round at Hockenheim could be the earliest possible qualifying and race debut for the Red Bull F-duct.

Before then, new iterations of the Turkey-specification F-duct could be tested in practice as soon as the forthcoming European grand prix at Valencia late this month.

Jun.10 (GMM)  Fernando Alonso has welcomed the news that his current teammate Felipe Massa will be staying at Ferrari at least until the end of 2012.

It had been rumoured that the Spaniard’s friend Robert Kubica, or Red Bull’s Mark Webber, might switch to the Maranello based team to replace Brazilian Massa, 29.

“I am very pleased,” Alonso is quoted by Ticionline, “because it means the same group will be working together for another two years.

“Stability is very important to the success of a team,” he added.  “I feel very well with Felipe — there is a lot of respect between us and that creates the harmony that is necessary to be together for the long term.”

Alonso also played down reports that he is ruing a lack of development with the F10 car since winning the season opening Bahrain grand prix.

“It is not right to say that the development stopped; the few tenths to Red Bull has been the same, so that means we have been improving, as have they.

“The truth is that in Spain we did not take the step forward that we expected, while others moved ahead,” he said.

Alonso, 28, also acknowledged that the work on the F-duct system has greatly occupied the relevant engineers.

“I think it has been useful to work on it, although we have not been able to exploit this work completely effectively.

“I see that other teams have also had difficulties, while those (McLaren) who had it from the beginning retain the advantage,” he added.

Red Bull might not test its new F-duct system on the long straights of Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve next Friday.

The team took its initial version of the downforce-stalling concept off the RB6 after Friday practice in Turkey, after Sebastian Vettel reported that it had not functioned perfectly.

“We need to work on getting the right effect,” said the German.

It had been expected that the team would test the innovation again during Friday practice in Canada, where the straightline speed boost will be a big advantage on the fast layout.

But on Austrian television ‘Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar 7′ on Tuesday, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko indicated that the F-duct will not be used in Montreal next week.

“It did not work perfectly,” he confirmed on Tuesday, referring to the Istanbul Park test.

“Therefore, we are developing it further.  We will bring it again to Valencia,” he added.

(GMM)

Red Bull’s new F-duct system in Turkey did not function “100 per cent” on its Friday practice debut.

Sebastian Vettel’s RB6 was fitted with the McLaren-style innovation for the 180 minutes of practice, while teammate Mark Webber’s was not.

Vettel was the quicker of the pair in the morning, but even with his engine failure in the afternoon, Webber had sped up to be two tenths quicker by the end of Friday’s running.

When asked about the F-duct debut, 22-year-old Vettel said: “It did not work 100 per cent and still needs some fine-tuning.

“We will look at it again, but it looks promising,” he is quoted by Germany’s Motorsport-Magazin.com.

Vettel said he believes McLaren, fastest in both sessions, is taking a significant advantage from its F-duct on the Istanbul layout.

He therefore refused to confirm that Red Bull will not keep its initial prototype on the RB6 for qualifying and the race.

Vettel was also happy with his new chassis, after damage was found to its predecessor in the wake of the Spain/Monaco double-header, won by his teammate Webber.

“It feels more natural and it was a good step to make the change,” he said.

(GMM)