2010 Michael Schumacher Merchandise

Who will not run shark fin engine cover by the end 2008 season ?

Posted on July 09, 2008 by F1Wolf

It is obvious now that Adrian Newey has started a trend to follow. First it was the Red Bull during the Barcelona test back in February. In April, again in Barcelona, Renault came up with their version of finned engine cover and Toro Rosso introduced the Red Bull clone.

Force India were next to follow. Hoping to close the gap to the midfield they tested several aero updates 2 weeks ago at Silverstone. The fin was one of them. And yesterday we could see the first “finned” McLaren in action at the Hockenheim test… Half the grid has the fin now.

I am not sure how much advantage this thingy actually brings. But all the teams that have tested the weird looking engine cover went on racing with it. None of the teams has dropped it since. It looks like the shark fin is here to stay, at least till the end of the 2008 season.

Who will try it next ?

The “shark fin gallery” inside the post.

Red Bull Fin

Force India Shark Fin

Photos: Red Bull/GEPA, Renault/LAT, Force India F1

13 Responses to “Who will not run shark fin engine cover by the end 2008 season ?”

  1. danielNo Gravatar

    - 9th Jul, 08 03:07pm

    wolf, youve done it again, nice post and collection!
    already before the real shark fin on mclaren i noticed that their engine cover was a half way shark fin, and a lot bigger than ferrari and the others.
    now it gets really exciting to see about ferrari, guess they are working mad in the factory to find out if they should make the move as well

    daniels last blog post..Super Aguri säljs ut på auktion över internet

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  2. danielNo Gravatar

    - 9th Jul, 08 04:07pm

    erm.. me again, just forgott to add, my guess for the next team to introduce the shark fin; williams. theyve tried something similar recently; http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67412
    and they need to try everyting they can to find some more speed in their cars..

    daniels last blog post..McLaren introducerar hajfena under tester i Tyskland

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  3. F1WolfNo Gravatar (author comment)

    - 9th Jul, 08 11:07pm

    As you said in your first comment, I am waiting for Ferrari to come with their version :-)

    Reply to this comment

  4. cdNo Gravatar

    - 10th Jul, 08 03:07am

    Wow, who’s left? All the followers are gone. It’s gotta be either Honda or Toyota. Probably Toyota — they’re the type.

    Reply to this comment

  5. Black ZeddNo Gravatar

    - 10th Jul, 08 04:07pm

    Interesting sights. I wonder if the later teams only discovered their use when the pioneering team introduced them. It seems signature body-parts just need some time before becoming a standard practice..

    Black Zedds last blog post..Should You Work In Big Corporations?

    Reply to this comment

  6. StewNo Gravatar

    - 10th Jul, 08 10:07pm

    It’s a virus i say, a virus! :)

    Reply to this comment

  7. KotenokNo Gravatar

    - 11th Jul, 08 01:07am

    Well, in the pre-season I heard from some experts and even team chiefs saying that this aero design won’t be ever applied to the largest teams which actually own better development and large investment in aerodynamics, so they have pretty good alternatives to the vertical wings and these shark fins. So they shouldn’t just copy the design (which I think it is pretty foolish).

    At the end we see it appearing everywhere like a growing mushroom in autumn season, and well, I guess majority of those experts were really wrong about their comments!! After all it works. I doubt Ferrari can come with it out, but the search of performance can move them into it.

    Here the main motto is: “copy and win time with it”.

    Reply to this comment

  8. zblkhwkNo Gravatar

    - 11th Jul, 08 10:07am

    I find it interesting that the two teams with the top wind tunnel and aero labs in Ferrari and BMW Sauber do not have the fin yet. Yet all these teams that try it, keep it.

    If McLaren uses it in Germany, how can Ferrari not follow suit.

    Reply to this comment

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