Appropriately, Spyker will replace the F8-VII with a virtually new car at the forthcoming Grand Prix in Turkey.

After another difficult day in which his drivers finished at the bottom of the timesheets, both over a second slower than Takuma Sato, who finished twentieth, team boss Colin Kolles admitted that the Dutch team is now focussing on the new car.

"I'm not very happy today," he told reporters. "I cannot hide it, obviously. One monocoque is broken so it's not very good"

Asked what the sure is, the response was immediate: "A better car!"

He then revealed that the new car, which will appear at the Turkish Grand Prix in late August, will make its debut without having been tested.

Asked if it is a complete redesign or merely a modified F8-VII, he said: "On the mechanical side it's basically a complete new car. It will be the basis for the 2008 car and aerodynamically it will be a complete new update: basically new engine cover, side pods, front wings, rear wings. It's basically a complete new car."

When it was pointed out that the new cars arrival surely can't come quick enough, Kolles sighed and said: "For sure, yes. I hope it's also quick enough, which is a big question mark."