Byrne Outlines F2005 Changes

Conducted and provided by Ferrari's press office.

Ferrari's Rory Byrne:

Although the fundamental design philosophy of the F2005 is the same as previous cars, the changes in bodywork regulations have meant that we have also had to maximise downforce in order to recover as much as possible of the 25% we lost initially.

Changes to regulations which now require only one set of tyres to be used for two qualifying session and the race have meant we have had to consider tyre life as well as performance so, as usual, many areas of the car have had to be fundamentally revised in order to make a step in performance.

I will explain in more details:

1. Aerodynamics

The areas directly affected by the new regulations, eg wings and diffuser, are obviously all new but even radiator, exhaust and gearbox layouts have been fundamentally revised to optimise the aerodynamics. In addition, there are several development items planned to be introduced during testing in the next month so when it first races it will look differently in some areas to the car you see here.

2. Transmission

While the transmission internals have been further optimised, the casing is completely new, both in terms of its shape to optimise the aerodynamics and its method of construction and use of materials. A prototype has been successfully tested in the F2004.

3. Chassis

The chassis is completely new, both in terms of shape, which is a result of the aerodynamic development programme, and in terms of materials used and design of the structure, in order to achieve a weight saving in spite of the increased side penetration requirements for 2005.

4. Suspensions, steering and brakes

Both front and rear suspensions have been further optimised to maximise performance and minimise wear of the Bridgestone tyres. A fundamentally revised power steering system to enhance driver control in transient conditions will be tested shortly. More effort than ever before has been spent on optimising the braking system in order to improve the driver use and modulation of the brakes during qualifying and the various stages of the race.

5. Electronics

For the first time, a Ferrari designed and developed data acquisition system has been installed in the F2005 in order to greatly enhance the data acquisition and processing. A prototype of the system has been successfully tested on the F2004.

Aldo Costa has been responsible for the entire F2005 project and I would like to congratulate him and his team who have carried out the research, structural calculation and design of the car and met all the objectives we defined at the start of the project.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone at the Gestione Sportiva for their contribution in producing the best ever Ferrari Formula 1 car.

Forza Ferrari!