Eyebrows raise as ugly Caterham photos leaked

F1 fans on Wednesday got their first glimpse of a 2012-specification car.

Caterham is launching its new CT01 in the pages of British magazine F1 Racing on Thursday.

But some subscribers got their copy a day early, and so a side-angle photo was released by the team on Twitter.

A leaked front-view photo is also doing the rounds, and the most eye-catching feature is the radically stepped nose.

The nose is the result of new regulations dictating a lower front section for crash impacts, and given Ferrari’s admission about its own "ugly" car, the look is likely to be widespread on the 2012 grid.