Newey: Only a few teams will win in '09

Although a major aerodynamic revamp has taken place in a bid to increase overtaking, Newey is convinced that one of the biggest consequences of such a major change will be that the field is more spread out than it has been in recent years.

Speaking about whether the new rules will help boost overtaking, Newey said: "A bit more, but not a huge amount as people overlook the fact that circuit layout is the most important factor for generating passing moves.

"Last year the entire field was very close, with a very tight grid and five different chassis manufacturers winning races. A major rule change is likely to have the opposite effect, just one or two teams get it right and do all the winning."

Newey says his new RB5 car has been penned from scratch because of the regulation changes - which not only changes aerodynamics but has also forced a weight distribution shift.

"2009 arguably sees the biggest rule change since flat bottoms were introduced in 1983, a very major change," he explained. "We have taken a clean sheet, blue-sky approach, looking at the implications of these rules and how to interpret them, while not changing things simply for the sake of it. Apart from the gearbox internals, there is hardly any carry-over from RB4."

He added: "The main area of change with going back to slick tyres was in terms of weight distribution, as it will put greater strain on the rear tyres, so at the design stage, we moved the weight distribution forward a bit."

Newey confirmed that the car does carry KERS - with it being situated in the base of the fuel tank for performance reasons.

"We use a battery storage system, which is heavy and therefore affects weight distribution on the car. After everything is packaged in the usual manner, driver, fuel cell, engine, gearbox, you then have to find somewhere for KERS, while maintaining fuel tank capacity and achieving the weight distribution target. RB5 carries its KERS in the base of the fuel tank."