FEBRUARY 6, 2002

Ferrari launches its 2002 challenge

FERRARI has launched its 2002 challenger at Maranello and the team has decided to take a risk in an effort to find more performance after winning three consecutive Constructors' titles. Ferrari engineers found themselves scratching to make the car quicker and the gains were diminishing.

It is no secret that Ferrari has been looking at some radical solutions to the problems of modern F1 rather than playing it safe. Rumors suggest that the new car will have no flywheel and that the engine and gear will be in one unit.

"We have tried to be innovative but it was not easy to improve on a car that was already perfect," said Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. "We have everything to lose and nothing to gain. If we win people will say it was inevitable. So we have to take risks. At the same time we know how important reliability is."

Ferrari's insurance policy is that if there are problems it can run the 2001 cars and they will still be very competitive.

"The car is a design evolution of the 2001 car," says technical director Ross Brawn, "but there are some things in the engine and transmission which may need smoothing out."

Ferrari has, however, gone for the Sauber front-end aerodynamic ideas which were seen in 2001 while a great deal of work has gone into the development of Bridgestone tires. The Japanese tiremaker is now without the problem of having to balance the demands of Ferrari and McLaren and can concentrate fully on Ferrari. The other Bridgestone teams simply have to make do with the tires they get.