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There will be changes to the car and
personnel for Ferrari in China this weekend
as they seek to kick start their pointless
season: Chris Dyer will replace Luca
Baldisserri (top) on the pit wall while the
F60 (bottom, during the Malaysian Grand
Prix) will sport new aerodynamic
improvements. |
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Today will be an important day, when the FIA Court of Appeal in Paris has to discuss the appeal
presented by Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and BMW against the decisions of the race
stewards at the Australian and Malaysian GPs, who had decided the Brawn GP,
Toyota and Williams diffusers were according to the rules.
Ferrari will be represented by Rory Byrne and chief designer
Nikolas Tombazis. The decision will be made public by
Wednesday afternoon, when all the teams will have arrived at
Shanghai.
Apart from the ICA’s decision the Chinese GP
must be a turning point for the Scuderia after a bad start
to the season. During the days after the return from
Malaysia there was an air of retaliation: Montezemolo’s and
Domenicali’s calls for each and every person to take
responsibility for the parts they play were a great
motivation for a group, which knew how to deal with very
difficult situations in the past and turning them around.
From a technical and organisational point of
view the F60’s development programme received some new
stimulus. The goal is to anticipate as much as possible the
introduction of new technologies to reduce the performance
gap as fast as possible, which, apart from the question of
the diffuser, seems to be there. A working party has been
set up under the coordination of Aldo Costa, which will
follow the development programme at Maranello in close
contact with the experience made on the track: a crucial
element of this group is Luca Baldisserri. The Scuderia Team
Manager will follow the single-seater's development
step by step, while his role at the track will be covered by
Chris Dyer.
There will be several new aerodynamic
features at Shanghai, which have been tested by Marc Gené
last week at the Vairano straight. The front wing will be
modified next to the front rims and the deviators. The tyres
are the same as in Australia and the main job during the
three hours of free practice on Friday will be to understand
how the two types will run on the tarmac, which is
completely different to the one at Albert Park.
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