Ferrari warn rivals over new car
It is expected to be a major step forward
Ferrari expect their new car to shoot them ahead of their rivals and may introduce it at the next race in Bahrain, technical director Ross Brawn said here Friday.
The Italian team started the season with a modification of their old F2004 machine and have not been as fast as rivals Renault - but Brawn is confident the new car will be significantly faster.
'(Test driver) Luca Badoer says he is really pleased with it and I think it will be somewhere between 0.5 and a full second faster than the current car,' said Brawn ahead of Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Brawn admitted that the decision not to provide Michael Schumacher with a new engine for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix was a tactical move to allow them to debut the new car at the next race without a penalty. But although test driver Luca Badoer has given the new F2005 machine glowing reports, Brawn insisted it will not be rushed into service until Schumacher and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello are completely happy with it.
'We have an option to bring it to Bahrain but a lot will depend on this weekend and a lot on next week which is the first week the racing drivers will get to drive the car,' said Brawn. 'Luca Badoer has been driving it in testing. He is very positive about the car, but I would like to hear what Michael and Rubens say about the car before we make a decision.'
'So, we are testing next week. We could if wanted to stretch it take it to Bahrain and it will depend on our competitiveness this weekend whether we feel the new car could have made a difference to whatever results we get.'
Brawn said that the team will have to make a decision soon because the car will have to be shipped to the Middle Eastern desert circuit next weekend in time to make it to pre-race scrutineering. Much will depend on Schumacher and Barrichello's performances here, however, and Brawn added: 'If we lose the race and feel the difference could have been made up by the car then it could accelerate the introduction of the car.'
Teams must use one engine for two races this year after the introduction of new regulations at the start of the season. They can change before a new event without penalty if they retire from the previous race.
Ferrari chose not to change Schumacher's engine for this weekend's race even though he could have done so without penalty, having crashed out of the season-opening event in Australia.
And Brawn admitted: 'Obviously if we had changed it, we wouldn't have had the option to take the new car for Michael to Bahrain. It could have been an option. So we didn't do it, to give us the option to run the new car in Bahrain.'
Source AFP