This new nose that is not a revolution

Ferrari has downplayed the importance of its nose hole, as many believe that this aerodynamic development on the car is very important for increasing the speed of the F2008.

The team based in Maranello was at the center of attention during the tests in Barcelona, Spain last week, when its F2008 ran for the first time with an aerodynamic hole at the nose.

Ferrari’s chief designer, Nicholas Tombazis, insists on the impact of this evolution, which is not a revolution.

« It’s not something revolutionary that’s going to make us gain two seconds, » he stated to the Gazzetta dello Sport.

« More simply, it is an aerodynamic development, like others that may be less common, but perhaps even more important. »

Tombazis explained that the introduction of this hole was delayed until the start of the European season due to the need to pass a new crash test. Ferrari simply wanted to ensure that they would have enough parts for the races.

« It’s an idea we’ve been working on for some time, but it wasn’t one of the fundamental points of the F2008 project as people might think. In fact, the car was fast without this development, » added Tombaziz.

Speaking about the advantages of the design, Tombazis stated: « It allows you to better control the airflow over the front wings, with benefits that carry through to other components at the rear such as the diffuser and the rear wing. »

« The driver can, therefore, go faster in the curves. However, this observation is also the result of other things that were introduced during testing but are not visible. »