From GMM
The F1 world is holding its breath to see if Mercedes GP can reveal a diffuser that enables Michael Schumacher to win the season opening Bahrain GP.
According to paddock rumours as the final winter test wrapped up in Spain at the weekend, the new 'super diffuser' will only be fitted to the W01 for the beginning of Friday practice at the desert venue.
Brackley based Mercedes and Schumacher ended the last Barcelona timesheet a few tenths off the pace.
"I do not know what Brawn will have in Bahrain, but we'll see if it is really something new," Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is quoted as saying by the El Pais newspaper on Sunday.
"For me, it is just a rumour, like many others," the Spaniard added.
However, the mumblings about the radical diffuser persist, particularly as Ross Brawn's team originally pioneered the controversial concept and arrived for the first race of 2009 with a dominant car.
But Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa doubts Mercedes is set to shock the F1 world with another radical concept.
"Now all the cars have a super diffuser and there will be no surprises because the rules have been stretched thin by the engineers," said the veteran.
Meanwhile, Red Bull attempted to fool rivals and technical photographers at Barcelona by placing stickers on the rear of the engine cover depicting faux exhaust outlets.
The F1 world is holding its breath to see if Mercedes GP can reveal a diffuser that enables Michael Schumacher to win the season opening Bahrain GP.
According to paddock rumours as the final winter test wrapped up in Spain at the weekend, the new 'super diffuser' will only be fitted to the W01 for the beginning of Friday practice at the desert venue.
Brackley based Mercedes and Schumacher ended the last Barcelona timesheet a few tenths off the pace.
"I do not know what Brawn will have in Bahrain, but we'll see if it is really something new," Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is quoted as saying by the El Pais newspaper on Sunday.
"For me, it is just a rumour, like many others," the Spaniard added.
However, the mumblings about the radical diffuser persist, particularly as Ross Brawn's team originally pioneered the controversial concept and arrived for the first race of 2009 with a dominant car.
But Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa doubts Mercedes is set to shock the F1 world with another radical concept.
"Now all the cars have a super diffuser and there will be no surprises because the rules have been stretched thin by the engineers," said the veteran.
Meanwhile, Red Bull attempted to fool rivals and technical photographers at Barcelona by placing stickers on the rear of the engine cover depicting faux exhaust outlets.