It is why we saw different floors on McLaren images, and Red Bull tried to hide the sidepod inlets on its new RB20 to keep the prying eyes of rivals away from what it is really doing for a little while longer.
Sometimes though, teams go the extra mile beyond disguising what they are doing, by throwing a few deliberate distractions out there.
Remember the fake serrated floor that appeared on the Alfa Romeo launch images 12 months ago?
Well, Mercedes seems to have joined the fun last week when closer inspection of its W15 launch renders showed something pretty unusual.
The images showed the car sprouting an additional suspension arm at the front of the car.
It was obviously some kind of joke from Mercedes, but it was one that didn't generate much attention on launch day as everyone appeared more focused on the proper changes the team had made.
But while the double suspension arm would be quite a stand-out on the current F1 grid, there is history of someone else trying something similar a few years ago.
In that instance we only have to travel back to 2019, as Williams attempted similar shenanigans when it used a separate fairing that appeared to enclose one of the wheel tethers on the FW42 (below, inset).
Source: Autosport