New Car is a Risk, Says Ferrari President

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said on Wednesday that the World Champions have taken a risk in the design of their new car - because it was the only way to improve.

Ferrari launched the new F2002 at their Maranello base on Wednesday and di Montezemolo admitted that the double World Champions took a big gamble in the design of the new car, but added they were confident the risk will pay off.

"We were not able to develop last year's car so we took a new road, a risky road full of innovation," di Montezemolo said. "But we feel confident. We are still hungry for success, aware of both Championships and how to win them. Competition will be tough again, and it is a totally new car but we had to take the risk. It is part of the business of F1."

The car features a new titanium gearbox, adopted from Minardi's innovation last year, but Ferrari remain unsure whether they will start the season with the F2002. They will make a decision in the next 20 days on whether to run with last year's car in the season-opener in Australia, but di Montezemolo is still targeting double world title success.

"This year the competition between tyre manufacturers will be decisive," he added. "For the first time in 11 years I have not been able to ask the team to be better than last year. I will accept the same results as last year."

Technical director Ross Brawn believes that the new Ferrari is the best of their 48 single-seater cars, and added that more development work will be performed in the next 20 days.

"It is the best Ferrari ever," said Brawn. "Almost all parts have been revised. Those have allowed us to make a step forward and more development in the next two weeks."