BMW-Sauber spring surprise with new-look car

BMW-Sauber raised eyebrows with an unusual addition to their car when practice began for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours this morning.

Test driver Robert Kubica rolled out of the pits with two vertical struts directly in front of his cockpit, an aerodynamic aid designed to improve air flow over the car.

As well as the struts at the front, Kubica’s car also boasted McLaren-style horns on the roll hoop and the modifications appeared to do the trick as the Pole set the fastest time.

His lap of one minute 16.794 seconds was 0.339secs quicker than Honda tester Anthony Davidson after a quiet session in which just 16 drivers set a time.

Jenson Button raised hopes of an improvement in form by setting the quickest time for a race driver, third overall in his Honda but over a second down on Kubica.

Ralf Schumacher showed well for Toyota with fourth place while Midland tester Adrian Sutil and Scuderia Toro Rosso counterpart Neel Jani were fifth and sixth respectively.

World championship rivals Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher were among those drivers not to set a time, along with David Coulthard. Sakon Yamamoto began his last day as Super Aguri third driver in inauspicious fashion, stopping out on the track halfway through the session.

The Japanese driver will replace Frenchman Franck Montagny in the race team for the German Grand Prix onwards but he ended first practice seven seconds of the pace in 16th.