Ferrari is courting controversy by testing new components for its struggling 2011 car during a track day for "a promotional film", according to media reports.
"After so many hours in the simulator it was nice to have a break and enjoy myself on track," Felipe Massa was quoted by the Italian team’s website after the test at Fiorano late last week.
Spain’s AS newspaper said the 150 Italia car was featuring "improvements" that will be debuted in Turkey this weekend.
Last year, the wording of the in-season testing ban was improved to explicitly rule out the trialling of new components for the few filming days permitted for each team.
Omnicorse.it said the car differed from its Shanghai-specification in the diffuser and rear suspension areas. Brazil’s Globo also said the car "had some differences" compared with the car used in Australia, Malaysia and China.
All the reports said the car seemed "higher at the rear" than before, almost certainly to imitate the rake seen in the Red Bull to make best use of a flexible front wing.
Autosprint agreed that it is "likely" Ferrari took a "big risk" and "exploited the opportunity" of the Fiorano filming day to test the Red Bull-like upgrades.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber told La Stampa that he has a theory about Ferrari’s recent struggles.
"In Schumacher’s days, the rules didn’t change very much for years and so the team made many small steps forward. Now the changes are big and very often," said the Australian.