After being found wanting when it came to innovation the past two seasons, Ferrari are determined not to make the same mistake in 2012.
The Italian squad shifted focus to the development of their new challenger in September and Fernando Alonso promised that they would use the final few races of 2011 "to do some experimental things".
Ferrari, who have made several changes to their technical team this year in an attempt to catch up with Red Bull, introduced a new front wing to the 150° Italia in Korea to evaluate it for the 2012 season. The part was run on Alonso's car on Saturday and Sunday.
According to the official Formula One website, 'there are many changes over the older version with most components (nosecone and wing pillars aside) radically different. The endplates (1) are very similar in style to the ones Red Bull introduced at Suzuka and no longer feature a secondary outside vertical fin. The main plane (2) is also reminiscent of the Red Bull with its middle slot (3), as is the large flap (4). The upper-deck flap (5), meanwhile, bears a similarity to the one found on the previous wing, introduced in Budapest back in July.'
Alonso refused to answer questions about the new wing after qualifying on Saturday, saying: "The new front wing? I don't like talking about individual components; on the one hand I think that's a job for the engineers, on the other, I prefer to share my opinions about it only with the team."
Team principal Stefano Domenicali was a bit more open, but also didn't divulge too much detail.
"This was a development experiment for our 2012 car," he told BBC Sport.
"After our trouble early in the year with correlation between our wind tunnel and the track, it was important for us to know that what we are seeing in our tunnel is now matched to the track as we prepare for next year. The early data looks good and aligned well."
