Red Bull tests radical fin as Barcelona test starts

Red Bull debuted this new fin above the engine

(GMM) Red Bull tried a radical bodywork innovation on its new 2008 car, the RB4, as the three day weekend group test at Circuit de Catalunya kicked off on Friday.

Photographed while circulating in the hands of Mark Webber, the prominent rudder-like fin extends the rear of the car's engine cover towards the rear wing.

Elsewhere on the Barcelona circuit, runners faced a lengthy red flag period after Williams' Kazuki Nakajima emerged unhurt from a high speed crash at the first corner.

The rookie Japanese's heavily damaged car, the Toyota-powered FW30, was returned to the pits under a tarpaulin cover on the back of a flat-bed truck, amid suggestions that he had suffered a technical failure.

Also of note, Rubens Barrichello – who suffered a fiery glitch aboard the RA108 – gave Honda's tweaked 2008 livery its track debut, and BMW-Sauber continued to test its radical front nose 'horns' for the new F1.08.

Eight teams are testing at the circuit; all except Ferrari and Toyota, whose next outing will be in Bahrain, and the embattled Super Aguri squad.