Apr.21 (GMM) Ferrari chief designer Nicholas Tombazis has moved to play down the perceived significance of the 'nose hole' innovation that will debut at the Spanish grand prix this weekend.



In the pages of the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, it emerges that the piece has now passed the mandatory FIA crash tests and therefore will feature on the F2008 at Barcelona.



"It is not something revolutionary that will make us two seconds faster," he insisted.



"It is simply an aerodynamic development, like some others that are less obvious but perhaps even more important," Tombazis added.



He contradicted reports that said the 'hole' concept was central to the original design of Ferrari's 2008 car.



As to why it did not appear on the car before now, Tombazis answered: "For two reasons; the difficulty of producing enough spare parts in time for the first races, and also the need to pass the additional crash test."