After the Ferrari F2005 launch ceremony on Friday morning, the designers of the new car faced the media to go into more detail about its technical content, with particular reference to the new regulations, which include among other matters, the use of the same set of tyres for qualifying and the race and the fact that an engine must last two grand prix weekends.

The affect of these changes on the car’s performance was the main topic of discussion. “Probably, overall, we have lost a bit in performance terms, especially because of the longer life required from engines and tyres,” replied Rory Byrne. “However, we are working to overcome this deficit. We need to find the right compromise and be sure to make the right tyre choice, which will play an even more important role than usual. Obviously, tyre deterioration will affect performance.

The way various components are managed will also change. “We need to set parameters for both the life of the tyres and for performance. We have worked on increasing the range of these parameters in order to give engineers more scope,” explained Ross Brawn. “We have therefore worked on traction control, weight distribution and a whole range of critical factors.”

At the moment, only one F2005 chassis is ready, which will begin testing on track next week with Luca Badoer. “The second will probably be ready after Malaysia, because at the moment it is still being used for the crash test,” said Brawn. “When we have two chassis, we will be able to do more testing. Of course, we want to race the new car as soon as possible and to do that we need to gather a lot of data. Badoer will do the first test, as the race drivers will be busy with the Australian Grand Prix.

So when will the F2005 make its race debut? “Probably Barcelona,” replied Brawn. “But we will have to see how testing goes. Maybe it might be possible to introduce it in Bahrain. It also depends how the F2004 M goes in the races. If it is competitive, then we can get on with things more calmly.”

This year’s pit stops mean refuelling only and no tyre changing. Does Brawn think this will lead to substantially different race strategies and a different number of stops?
 

“We will have to see how things go at different circuits. I do not expect a big change in the number of pit stops and I think there will usually be 2 or 3 stops.

"Obviously, now the calculations will be based purely on the fuel load, given that the tyres do not change and so the strategy will vary from circuit to circuit,” said Brawn. “In a short space of time, we will find the right way to go between a little and a lot of fuel in relation to tyre wear. We like this challenge. Those who do the best job will create interesting opportunities.”

Paolo Martinelli and Gilles Simon went into more detail as to the philosophy of the 055, the ten cylinder engine powering the F2005. “The engine was based on last year’s, but it has improved in every area. The key element is the fact it must last for two grands prix,” said Martinelli.

“The architecture is similar to last year’s. But the mechanical elements, the electronics and almost the components have been revised. We worked above all to ensure the best possible integration with the car. But our work is not finished, as it is on-going.”

Has the braking system been adapted to be as kind as possible on the tyres? And what about the transmission? Brembo and Ferrari have tried to find the best possible compromise, working to optimise all the parts and increase integration with the chassis,” said Brawn. “Our collaboration with Brembo has always been very important but this year we have cooperated more closely.”

“As for the gearbox, we have improved its structure,” added Brawn. “The internals and operation are different to the work we did initially, before the new rules forced us to change the design. We won’t have this new gearbox for the first few races, but the one we will use is a good compromise.”