Friday Fun: Death of the Diffuser

The Formula 1 paddock is up in arms today with Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams having complaints made against them about their diffusers (in easy terms, a diffuser is part of the aerodynamics on the underside of a car). The FIA court of appeal will judge whether the results of Sunday's race will be valid in two weeks time, but in the meanwhile have a look at this:
If ever there were to be a complaint made about a Formula 1 car’s aerodynamics it should have been made in 1969 against Brabham (Pictured below) and Ferrari. These teams had introduced an additional, inverted spoiler to the front of the car some years earlier and by ’69 this and the back spoiler had reached ridiculous heights. Safety immediately jumps out as a concern; imagine a crash from behind – the rear spoiler looks like it could act like an axe ready to fell either driver! Accolades to Brabham and Ferrari for keeping the metal pipe industry running in the 1960s.

Image from: 'The Concise Encyclopedia of Formula 1', David Tremayne and Mark Hughes, Parragon Books 2003.