Ferrari prepares Silverstone backlash
Ferrari has pledged to bounce back in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend after its disappointing performance in the previous race in France. A week of exhaustive testing across Europe has prompted technical director Ross Brawn to declare: "We have made progress."
Ferrari worked on all aspects of its package last week in tests at Barcelona, Mugello and its Fiorano test track, covering over 4,000km in all. A new aerodynamic package was also successfully evaluated.
Brawn said: "Bridgestone brought some interesting solutions for the coming races, nothing revolutionary, but definitely a significant improvement. In addition, we also looked at various options for controlling traction, which I think can be a help."
Ferrari F1 chief Jean Todt added: "This was the last week of testing prior to a break of around six weeks and we worked very hard to improve the car itself and all its component parts. Our technical partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell, worked flat out alongside us. We were able to see an improvement in the performance of the F2003-GA, as well as some interesting developments in terms of tyre performance. We can therefore prepare to tackle the race at Silverstone in reasonably optimistic mood, while not forgetting that our main rivals will be very competitive."
Test driver Felipe Massa concentrated on engine development at Mugello, plus a new fuel and electronic system.
"We tried out a few new things to improve not only performance, through various engineering changes, but also driveability, using different mappings, which we will use in the course of the next few races," said Paulo Martinelli, Ferrari's engine specialist. "As usual, our suppliers played an important role. With Shell we tried a new fuel, while along with Magneti Marelli we experimented with a few electronic solutions."
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