Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has said that the new Red Bull RB8, set to be launched tomorrow at the Jerez track, is "not as ugly" as the new Ferrari, but admits the car will have a 'stepped' nose.
The new Ferrari F2012 has been seen as the nadir of 2012's new breed of car design so far, with the nose of the car featuring the most aggressive approach yet to the new season's trend for 'platypus nosed' cars.Ferrari have defended their design, insisting that it is not ugly, but their words don't appear to have fooled anyone with functioning eyesight.
And Marko himself also branded the car "ugly", while suggesting that the new Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull will also feature a similar nose.
But he insisted that the Red Bull approach to the design was "more elegant" than Ferrari's.
"We have something that looks a lot better," he was quoted as saying on Sunday.
He added: "Our [new] car is not as ugly as the Ferrari, but it's also not like the McLaren, which doesn't have a kink in the nose at all.
"Ours is just a bit smaller and more elegant [than Ferrari's]."
The wraps will be taken off the new Red Bull on Monday in Jerez, with the RB8 forming a trio of launches along with the new cars from Toro Rosso and Sauber.
Meanwhile, Ferrari personnel have continued to defend their new creation from criticism, with lead driver Fernando Alonso saying that he was a fan of the new car.
"With the new car the first feeling was very good from the beginning," he told the official Ferrari website in a video interview.
"I like the shape, the creative shape that we see in this new car. I think when a car surprises you from the first look, it's always a positive thing and I quite like the car. Hopefully it's fast."
He added: "I think all Ferraris are beautiful cars. I don't remember any Ferrari that is ugly or any Ferrari that you don't like. The red colour and the passion of each car that Ferrari does make the car beautiful anyway."
His optimistic view of the car's look was backed up by team mate Felipe Massa, who admitted that the nose was "very strange", but said that overall the car was "nice".
"It's a very aggressive car. Different," the Brazilian rambled, "I'm very enthusiastic that we're going to have a different car and a car where we go to a different direction in terms of development.
"We still need to get used to this nose, which is very strange due to the new rules. But apart from the nose the car is very aggressive and very nice and I hope we're going to see a very competitive car from the beginning to the end."
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