F2002 Technology is Unmatched, Says Byrne

World Champion Michael Schumacher is set to add further caution to the hopes of his Williams and McLaren rivals this weekend when his Ferrari team reveal the most advanced car ever designed by Rory Byrne.

Ferrari decided to use the team's old car in the first two races of the season but will introduce one of their new machines for Schumacher in Brazil and chief designer Byrne believes it is the best machine the Italian squad have ever produced.

"The public will probably not think it is radical, but there is more new technology on the car compared to any other," said Byrne. "Of the cars I have done in the last five years, there is a higher content of new ideas by a long, long way."

Schumacher's Championship challenge was initially dented when the new car failed to pass reliability tests in initial pre-season running and the team decided to race their old F2001 machine at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Victory came Schumacher's way in Melbourne after he avoided the collision between the Williams of his brother Ralf and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello, but the team insisted the new machine should be introduced as quickly as possible to prevent their rivals catching up.

Team test drivers Luca Badoer and Luciano Burti worked tirelessly on various test tracks around Italy in an effort to put more miles on the car and its final test was passed last week at Barcelona.

The radical machine shows Ferrari's attention to detail as they continue to push the boundaries in an effort to secure a World Championship hat-trick for sporting director Jean Todt's German hero Schumacher and a fourth title in a row for the team.

The car that won the World Championship last year was so advanced Byrne and his team could not make it any better, so they had to take a totally different approach to prevent their rivals chasing them down.

"Last year's car had reached a limit of development and it wasn't possible to take any further steps forwards in terms of performance," admitted Byrne. "We had to re-examine all the areas.

"We have used new technology and developed and in terms of the looks there are certain areas that are visually different to the previous Ferrari. The main area is a new approach to the rear end aerodynamics, with a totally different philosophy to last year's car."

After dominating in testing at Barcelona last week with the F2002, Schumacher is one of the clear favourites for the win in Brazil this week.