Formula One: How the Cars Will Look in 2008

Max Mosley, the FIA president, will unveil his vision for the formula one car of the future when he reveals a radical new aerodynamic concept to a meeting of team principals in London today. A dramatic rear-wing treatment and the re-introduction of slick tyres will make this new generation of cars look very different to the current crop of machines.

Mosley's proposals, designed to promote overtaking by reducing the trailing turbulence which makes it difficult for a car to get close enough to try to pass another, is scheduled to be incorporated from 2008 but he is hoping to persuade the teams to sanction them for the 2007 season.

The joint efforts of the FIA and its technology partner AMD have produced the "centreline downwash generating wing". This innovation creates a wake that allows a trailing car to create more downforce with which to overtake. "By introducing the CDG wing," said Mosley, "we can give motor sport fans exactly what they have asked for: wheel-to-wheel racing with much more overtaking."

Wider wheels and slick tyres, outlawed in 2007, will also form part of the 2008 regulations. The FIA has agreed to their return as they feel the reduction in power from the new generation of 2.4-litre V8 engines makes the ban unnecessary.

The use of spare cars and the issue of whether tyre changes during races should be revived for 2006 are also on this afternoon's agenda. The meeting comes at the beginning of a busy week for Mosley. He is due to fly to Rome on Wednesday, when the 2006 formula one calendar will be debated, and will be installed as the FIA president for another four-year term on Friday in the absence of a candidate to run against him in the election.