Brawn: F2005 a Second Quicker
Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn has claimed their new car will fire them ahead of their Formula One rivals when they introduce it
Brawn is confident that the new car, brought in to replace the old F2004M which they started this season with, will help them match the efforts of their rivals.
But he admits that despite the initial reports, the World Champions will not roll out the new machine until both Michael Schumacher and his teammate Rubens Barrichello are completely satisfied with it.
"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.
"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.
"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 we 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."
Ferrari will have to make a decision in the near future on their new machine since it needs to be presented for pre-race scrutineering by officials at the Middle Eastern circuit, and Brawn admits a bad showing at Sepang could influence their decision to rushing the car into action.
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."
New regulations stipulate that an engine must last for two races but are permitted to make a change before a race if they have retired from the previous race. Schumacher was forced out of the season-opener in Australia but Ferrari have resisted the temptation to change the powerplant in his car.
"Obviously if we had changed it, we wouldn't have had the option to take the new car for Michael to Bahrain," said Brawn. "It could have been an option. So we didn't do it to give us the option to run the new car in Bahrain."
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