By Huw Alban
April 4 2007

This weekend can be summed up quite simply - the team need a performance boost, and they are pinning all their hopes on a major aero upgrade to the F8-VII which has undergone extensive wind tunnel evaluation. The catch is, that the car with its new aero bits in place hasn't done a single mile of real track time. In fact the team are going to use only its two race drivers during Friday practice in order to make the best use of the most experience. I guess it's a gamble - if the wind tunnel work doesn't translate to the track then we're in for a difficult weekend.

Driver, Adrian Sutil, doesn't see it that way despite the fact that Sepang is also a new track for him. “I’ve never raced at Sepang before, but I am familiar with the layout and am looking forward to getting back in the car,” he said.

“I learnt a lot in Australia and now I want to put that into practice in Malaysia.

“The aim is to be fast, not to pick up any penalties – which I know won’t happen again – and do a good race.”

Spyker’s chief technology officer Mike Gascoyne is in complete agreement.

“The aero updates will be put on the car for the first practice session, but I don’t think we will miss out at all by not going to the test,” he told the official Spyker website.

“I know that the team has made sure the modifications work in the wind tunnel and they know that they will make the car faster – you don’t need to test if you are sure of this.

“For me, the car will only be easier to drive, not more difficult.”