Ferrari’s Technological Innovations Part 6: 1968 - The First Wing in a Formula 1 GP. Competitors Followed.

It took 57 years for someone to understand that an inverted wing, placed high on a race car, would generate downforce that improves tire grip on the ground, ensuring much higher cornering speeds. In 1956, at the Nürburgring circuit in Germany, a Porsche client-driver, an engineer as well as a gentleman driver, showed up at the 1000-kilometer test with his small Porsche 550 equipped with a large wing. Curiosity and irony from other drivers and even Porsche itself soon vanished: Michael May, his name, set the fastest lap with a huge lead over the others. Immediate objections were raised in the name of safety, with Porsche itself getting involved, resulting in the car with the wing being disqualified.