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Mercedes and Ferrari aim to refine F-ducts for Spain

Mercedes is hoping to have a fully working system for Barcelona © Getty Images

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• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
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• Ross Brawn

• Teams:
• Alfa Romeo
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• Ferrari
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• Mercedes
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• Williams

Mercedes and Ferrari are working hard to get fully working F-duct systems on their cars in time for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes introduced an initial "passive" version of the drag-reducing device in China, as efforts to fully emulate McLaren's innovative system continue at the factory. Unlike McLaren's system, Mercedes' Shanghai F-duct was not operated by the driver, with air instead being cleverly 'flicked' at increasingly higher speeds through a slot in the rear wing.

"We're still working on the proper system which we're having in Barcelona or Istanbul, there's no point in having it in Monaco," said team principal Ross Brawn. "It is complicated to get to work properly."

It is a similar story at Ferrari, where only some parts of a full F-duct system appeared on the F10 car in Shanghai.

"We are working on the F-duct and more progress could be made for Barcelona, although that's not confirmed yet," Fernando Alonso told Spain's Marca. "It is not an easy system, but I know the team is working hard to make it available as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that a further development of Sauber's China-specification F-duct will be debuted on the C29 in Spain next weekend. Williams also had problems with its initial F-duct in Shanghai, and technical director Sam Michael is not expecting a quick fix.

"I expect it will take us a couple of months to get it working properly," Michael said.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.