[Blue Angel]

I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be 10% function and 90% marketing.

I can see the concept offering two "vents" to bleed high pressure air off the hood to a low pressure area on the side of the car for a reduction in drag, but I don't see how that would translate into downforce. I coud actually see a reduction in downforce being plausible.

From a styling point of view I could see the designers scratching their heads trying to come up with some sort of visual "feature" to break up the long expanse of bodywork between the wheel arch and front door. Instead of putting some creases or a non functional vent, maybe they decided to "push the envellope" and do something different. On a Mazda this sort of thing wouldn't fly, but a company like Ferrari can pull it off. It's all about the marketing.

With this type of thing it's not really possible for someone to publically verify the claim, so they can say whatever they want. Short of taking the car into a wind tunnel and doing A/B comparissons by blocking the vents, how could you prove them wrong?