Bridgestone Take Super Softs To Singapore

Later this season Singapore will make its first appearance on the Formula One calendar, and Bridgestone announced on Friday that they plan to take their super-soft and soft tyre compounds to the city for September's race. The company also confirmed that, as in 2007, they have selected to use their medium and soft compounds at October’s Japanese Grand Prix and their hard and medium rubber at the Chinese event. For the season finale in Brazil, however, there will be a change, with medium and soft tyres replacing the soft and super-softs used last year.

"After 11 races this season we can now confirm our tyre allocations for the final four races of the year,” explained Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone Motorsport’s director of motorsport tyre development. “This will be the first time for Formula One in Singapore and we will bring the soft and super soft compounds for this interesting new street course. “High grip will be required at this track which is the primary reason for our choice. In Japan and China we will use the same compounds as we used in 2007. For Brazil we have moved a step harder in our allocation range. This race can be very hot, as we saw last year, and our data from the thrilling final race of last season showed us that this change would be beneficial for the teams.”

McLaren MP4-23 Slit In Front Wing Flap

McLaren had an addition to the new nosecone winglets that McLaren debuted in Hungary, the team also introduced this change to the rearmost flap of the front wing. It may be more subtle than the winglets, but is actually more important in terms of airflow management. In truth, the two revisions work in tandem. The slit (inset) in the middle of the flap helps to extract the air passing underneath and then to direct it towards the upper wishbones of the front suspension at an angle of around 30 degrees. That airflow is then diverted horizontally by the winglets on the nose. The higher negative pressure that the slit generates under the wing helps to improve the sharpness of the car's front-end handling.

Ferrari F2008 Shark-Fin Engine Cover

Ferrari have included a heavily-revised engine cover. This full-height shark fin profile (inset) is almost identical to those already introduced by Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso and Force India. This revision improves the car's rear-end efficiency and balance, and to enhance its straight-line stability at high speeds. It better manages airflow close to the engine cover, and in particular reduces turbulence generated by spillage from the engine air inlets. This addition could well be used at the season's remaining races, albeit with ongoing revisions. With traction arguably the F2008's weak point at the last round in Hockenheim, even a small improvement in rear downforce should prove beneficial.

McLaren MP4-23 Nosecone Winglets

McLaren Team made these horn-like winglets halfway up the MP4-23's nosecone have been introduced by McLaren in Hungary. It's a solution not dissimilar to the 'delta' winglets on the BMW Sauber and one that provides a better quality of airflow to the car's sidepod inlets and rear end. It does this by improving the management of the airflow exiting the front wing. This doesn't directly increase front downforce, but instead improves the aero efficiency and downforce load in the central and rear sections of the car.

Ferrari F2008 Vertical Slits In Rear Diffuser

Ferrari Team made some modification on the F2008's aero package in Hungary was this vertical slit in each side wall of the diffuser's central section. The increased pressure generated by airflow passing through the slits helps improve the extraction of airflow in that central section of the diffuser. This in turn helps to slightly increase the downforce generated underneath the car in this area, resulting in better traction - something that was lacking at the previous race in Germany. This change will almost certainly be retained for the remainder of the season, after it proved effective in improving the overall balance of the F2008.

Ferrari F2008 Shark-Fin Engine Cover

Ferrari have included a heavily-revised engine cover. This full-height shark fin profile (inset) is almost identical to those already introduced by Red Bull, Renault, Toro Rosso and Force India. This revision improves the car's rear-end efficiency and balance, and to enhance its straight-line stability at high speeds. It better manages airflow close to the engine cover, and in particular reduces turbulence generated by spillage from the engine air inlets. This addition could well be used at the season's remaining races, albeit with ongoing revisions. With traction arguably the F2008's weak point at the last round in Hockenheim, even a small improvement in rear downforce should prove beneficial.