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.

Valencia Street Circuit For F3 And GT Race

Valencia Street Circuit in Spain hosted a number of Formula Three and GT races over the weekend in preparation for the venue’s debut Formula One event, the Grand Prix of Europe, in August.

GP2 team mates Mike Conway and Ho-Pin Tung clinched the maiden win at the track on Saturday evening, driving a GT3 Dodge Viper, while on Sunday, local hero Jaime Alguersuari won the Spanish Formula Three race.

Following the successful completion of the rehearsal events, the circuit received its track licence from the FIA, ahead of the forthcoming Grand Prix, which will take place from August 22-24, 2008.

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.

Fisichella Receives 25second Penalty

Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella has been penalised after unlapping himself under the safety car when he was not permitted to do so during Sunday’s German Grand Prix July 20,2008. Fisichella had 25 seconds added to his final race time and drops from 14th to 16th in the classification as a result.

According to the stewards, when the safety car was deployed after Timo Glock’s crash, Fisichella pitted before the ‘Lapped cars may now overtake’ signal was shown, meaning he should have not then unlapped himself once he rejoined the circuit. The Italian’s penalty promotes Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Force India team mate Adrian Sutil one place each, to 14th and 15th respectively.

Lewis Hamilton warns McLaren

Lewis Hamilton has warned his McLaren team to expect a formidable opponent in Ferrari when the F1 Championship enters the final leg in late August. Having been destroyed by Hamilton in the wet in Britain and Germany, Ferrari fought back in Hungary last weekend where Felipe Massa pulled off the overtaking move of the race to take the lead off the McLaren driver. And had it not been for his engine failure three laps before the end of the 70-lap race Massa would have clinched not only the victory but also the lead in the standings. But as it stands Hamilton's fifth placed finish, despite a puncture, extended his lead in the championship by one point over Kimi Raikkonen, bringing the gap to five, while Massa languishes eight points off the pace.

However, the Brit concedes he could have a tough challenge holding onto the lead as the Ferraris have rebounded from their earlier disappointing pace. "They were strong," Hamilton told Autosport. "If we had been out in front then it perhaps would have been a little bit different. "But Hungary showed they had some really strong pace, which we already knew they had. It's just you guys (the media) seem to think there's a huge difference." He added: "I think I drove well. I didn't make any mistakes. I just had a puncture. I brought the car home as safe as possible and scored as many points as I could, so there's not much more you can ask for," he continued. "It's just unfortunate I was the one to get a puncture, and it was a case of 'oh no, not again.' I had it three times last year, or whatever it was, and that's what really lost me the Championship. "It can be very, very costly, but Kimi didn't win, and it actually helps Heikki (Kovalainen) won and (Timo) Glock was second. They are taking points off everyone else, so I'm quite happy. My lead is bigger now and you would never have thought that with all that has gone on this year.