Mercedes sports innovative bargeboard design

© XPB 

According to Toto Wolff, Mercedes was expected to introduce a set of 'unusual' upgrades during this week's pre-season Barcelona test.

This morning, the team's new W07 featured its first cosmetic change in the form of a radical bargeboard design.

The concept includes a serrated vertical frontal area supported at its base by individual horizontal plates extending from the floor.

One suspects that the aggressive looking design's purpose is to guide more efficiently the airflow under the floor and to the car's rear diffuser.

Mid-way through the morning's session, Nico Rosberg has currently been the most active driver out on the Circuit de Catalunya, raking in almost twice the amount of laps of his rivals.

No comment yet on the efficiency of the new bargeboard design or the nature of any future upgrades destined to be introduced later this week, but check out F1i's Nicolas Carpentier's technical review of the new Mercedes W07.

Follow live coverage and timing from pre-season testing here

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