FIA F1 - Ferrari Reorganizes Design Office For 2013

Modena, Dec. 26, 2012: Team principal Stefano Domenicali has said that Ferrari will use separate design coordinators for their 2013 and 2014 Formula One cars in a bid to make its technical department more efficient. There will be major changes to the technical regulations in 2014, including the introduction of V6 turbo engines, and Domenicali has said that this was a key reason for the Italian squad splitting development programmes.

“For a few months now, we have been working on a programme of reorganization along with the introduction of new methodologies, especially concerning the wind tunnel,” said Domenicali. “As you know, we are rebuilding the Maranello facility which will be closed until August. Until then, we will use the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne. We have also adopted a better method of splitting up the work between those who run the wind tunnel and those who should concentrate more on the creative side of the job.

“This year, we saw that when we do too many things at the same time, maybe we are not efficient enough. As regards the design, we have decided, particularly in light of the unusual demands we will face in 2013, when we will have a completely new project to work on for the future, to have two coordinators: Simone Resta, an engineer who has developed his career in Maranello and is very effective, will work on the 2013 car and Fabio Montecchi will deal with the one for the following year. Nikolas Tombazis continues as chief designer.”

Domenicali also reiterated Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo’s call for the team to hit the ground running in 2013.

“We are well aware that we must start off with a more competitive car, as our President has demanded,” he continued. “Clearly we have only been concentrating all our efforts on the new one from a few weeks before the final race, given we pushed right to the end on this year’s. The 2013 car will be launched at the very end of January or the early days of February: as usual, the first one will be just a launch version, while the complete one will be seen in the final days of testing or in Australia, so as to make the most of all the time available.”