What are the F1 teams planning for next season – and are they making progress? We bring you updates from the major teams.
Ferrari
Ferrari is working on its new wind tunnel and engine test beds in preparation for the 2003 championship. The Scuderia’s new car is expected to be launched at the end of February and the team could start the new season with the last year’s all-conquering F-2002.
The team’s technical director, Ross Brawn, has recovered from the back problems he suffered late last season and will be testing on two fronts before the end of the season. The first session will kick off in Barcelona on November 26 with regular drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, the duo mainly concentrating on tyre testing for Bridgestone.
After this initial test, the pair will run in Jerez before heading back to Barcelona. In conjunction, test driver Luca Badoer will test mechanical and electronic components for the new car at Fiorano and Mugello.
Williams-BMW
BMW motorsport boss Gerhard Berger recently said the Munich-based manufacturer was well ahead of schedule for 2003 with its new P83 engine.
“This year, we are two months earlier than this time last year. We have already tested the engine several times,” the Austrian said.
According to , Berger was confident that the new Williams chassis would be better than this year’s FW24 and post a stronger challenge to Ferrari in 2003.
“When it comes to the chassis, Williams is a lot more aggressive now,” he said. “No improvements on the 2002 car, but a completely new approach.”
McLaren-Mercedes
The McLaren-Mercedes team will start testing two cars at Spain’s Valencia circuit on November 26. One will be a revised MP4/17D fitted with a revised transmission and rear-end package. David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen are expected to race the car at the Australian Grand Prix next March.
The second car used during the tests will be a standard-spec MP4/17 and the Woking-based team is expected to continue testing at Jerez during December. Raikkonen will join test driver Alex Wurz for testing on November 26 and 27.
According to , McLaren will start the new season with a revised version of this year’s contender while they put extra effort into the new MP4-18 to be introduced at the San Marino Grand Prix.
Jordan-Cosworth
The Jordan squad, which will be switching to the 72-degree Cosworth V10 engine next season, is not building an interim test car but concentrating all its efforts on finalising the design of the new EJ-13. According to reports, the EJ-13 should be ready for its official unveiling during the second week of January.
Once the EJ-13 has been officially unveiled, testing will begin ahead of the season opener at Albert Park in Melbourne.
The team appears to have settled on Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato as its drivers for 2003. However, several reports say that axed Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine could replace Sate. The official drivers don’t have to be submitted until late February, so there is still ample time to make the final decision.
Toyota
CART champion Cristiano da Matta will join the Toyota F1 team soon after his final race of the 2002 champ car season in Mexico. The Brazilian driver has his first outing with Toyota at Barcelona on November 26 and 28.
Da Matta and new team-mate Olivier Panis will test an interim development version of the TF102 fitted with next year’s V10 engine and the longitudinal seven-speed gearbox. The team will then test at Paul Ricard (December 2 to 5) and Barcelona (December 3 to 5).
Renault
The Renault team will take one interim development car and a standard R202 to the Valencia circuit in Spain where they plan to conduct their first pre-2003 testing session from November 26 to 28.
Then the French squad will move to Barcelona (December 3 to 5) and Jerez (December 10 to 14) and as no test driver has been officially appointed, the duties will fall to the team’s two regular drivers, Jarno Trulli and new team-mate Fernando Alonso.
The interim car will feature next year’s mechanical package, which is currently being developed in preparation for the official launch of the R203 expected to take mid January.