Feature: Countdown to Melbourne Enters Final Month

The countdown to Formula One lift-off entered its final month today with champions Ferrari looking as overpowering as ever despite the promise of change in a new-look season.

The last pieces of the Grand Prix jigsaw are slotting into place, with Jordan last week ending months of suspense and signing British driver Ralph Firman while Ferrari launched their impressive F2003-GA car on Friday.

Firman was the last to be confirmed of the 20 drivers who will line up on the grid for the first race in Australia on March 9, with four rookies led by Brazil's CART champion Cristiano da Matta. There are also two men returning after a year on the sidelines - Dutchman Jos Verstappen at Minardi and Spaniard Fernando Alonso at Renault.

Swiss-based Sauber's unveiling of their new car in Zurich today completed the run of set-piece launches with Germany's Heinz-Harald Frentzen returning to the team after Arrows' slide into liquidation.

Jordan will give the 27-year-old Firman his first run in their car, displaying its livery at last, at Valencia this week while Brazilian Felipe Massa looks forward to his first session as Ferrari's new test driver.

Only Minardi, still to finalise a tyre deal with Bridgestone and yet to run their new car, have unfinished business to settle before they are ready for Melbourne.

In the meantime, attention turns to testing and any indications that Ferrari's stranglehold on the Championship after four constructors' titles in succession can be loosened.

The unveiling of Michael Schumacher's F2003-GA at Maranello last Friday will have done little to persuade the world that change is imminent despite a new single-lap qualifying format and revised points system.

Quantum Leap

"We have not yet run the F2003-GA but so far all our performance objectives have been reached or exceeded, so I am confident this will be the best Ferrari Formula One car ever," said chief designer Rory Byrne.

Ferrari won 15 of the 17 races last year and the F2002 won the last 10 Grands Prix in a row.

World Champion Schumacher will start his quest for a record sixth title with an improved version of that car before wheeling out what promises to be an even better machine.

"We didn't see last year's car as a quantum leap from its predecessor but all our calculations tell us that this one is different," added technical director Ross Brawn.

"That's the theory, anyway."

The first track tests will come this week but the team said wind tunnel data already suggested the shorter and lighter car would be faster and more slippery than its predecessor.

The onus now is on rivals to make an even greater leap than the men from Maranello and the jury will be out on that until the talk stops and the racing starts in Melbourne.

Of the top two challengers, McLaren have made a stronger impression than Williams so far despite also starting with a revised 2002 car.

Schumacher said last week that he was concerned by the Mercedes-powered team's apparent progress with David Coulthard strong in testing in Valencia.

"Yes. I am concerned about their pace," said the German. "The winter tests have been much closer than some people may have expected."

More of a question mark hangs over Williams, who unveiled their FW25 in Barcelona at the end of last month.

The car, presented as a radical departure from the conservative one that finished overall runner-up last year, looked off the pace in a test last week without the new aerodynamic package.

Williams played down the significance of the times at such an early stage in the car's development but that did not prevent crisis headlines from emerging. The next three tests, starting on Monday, will give a clearer impression with the team concentrating on race set-up.

"At the next test in Valencia we should be closer to our aero starting point for the FW25. We can then begin to work on the balance and fine-tuning," the team said last week.