Ferrari plans to break Williams-BMW’s run of F1 victories at the British Grand Prix and has prepared an upgraded aerodynamic package, revised electronic system, engine mods and new fuel for the race.
Ferrari plans to break Williams-BMW’s run of F1 victories at the British Grand Prix and has prepared an upgraded aerodynamic package, revised electronic system, engine mods and new fuel for the race.
The Scuderia was overshadowed by the Grove-based team at the European and French Grands Prix, where the Williams-BMW duo of Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya finished one-two in both events.
But Ferrari has pledged to bounce back at Silverstone this weekend after a disappointing performance at Magny Cours and the Nurburgring. And following a week of exhaustive testing across Europe, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said: “We have made progress.”<BR<>
Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and test driver Felipe Massa worked on all aspects of the F-2003 GA last week in tests at Barcelona, Mugello and its Fiorano test track, covering over 4 000km. On Friday, CARtoday.com reported that Barrichello had topped the timesheets at Barcelona on a F-2003 GA shod with new Bridgestone tyres.
Brawn said: “(Ferrari tyre supplier) Bridgestone brought some interesting solutions for the coming races, nothing revolutionary, but definitely a significant improvement. In addition, we also looked at various options for controlling traction, which I think can help.”
Ferrari team boss Jean Todt added: “This was the last week of testing prior to a break of around six weeks and we worked very hard to improve the car itself and all its component parts. We were able to see an improvement in the performance of the F-2003 GA, and we can therefore prepare to tackle the race at Silverstone in reasonably optimistic mood, while not forgetting that our main rivals will be very competitive.”
According to , test driver Felipe Massa concentrated on engine development at Mugello and evaluated a new Shell fuel mixture and electronic system components.
“We tried out a few new things to improve not only performance, but also driveability, using different mappings, which we will use in the course of the next few races,” said Paulo Martinelli, Ferrari’s engine specialist.