Nikolas Tombazis, Chief Designer at Ferrari, admits that the Italian team is preparing for an all-conquering season in 2012, with the Scuderia now yet to claim a title since it picked up the Constructors’ crown three years ago.
For next year, without any significant changes in the FIA Technical Regulations, all cars throughout the field will be more evolutionary than revolutionary, although Ferrari are fully confident that a significant step-up in performance can be made.
“I think that, visually, the new car is fairly different to its predecessor,” Tombazis begins, “but if it has a ‘wow factor’, as our Team Principal Stefano Domenicali thought when he first saw the model, then I hope the ‘wow factor’ will also be evident from the results.
"We have set ourselves ambitious targets, which we intend to maintain, and so I am quite optimistic.”
The Greek designer also explained that the new car is currently at the stage of finalising main components – those with the longest production time – such as its chassis, general layout, suspension and gearbox.
“We are right in the middle of development for the aerodynamic elements and it’s fair to say we are now totally concentrated on the new car,” he continues. “Having accepted for a while now that this year’s championship titles are beyond our grasp, our main effort is aimed at next year.
“The technical rules have not changed that much; therefore there are areas on the 150º Italia (the current 2011 car) that are relevant for next year. That means, at the remaining races, we will be experimenting with this in mind. For example, we could try a new front wing that represents a different approach in terms of how it works - we can therefore try and learn as much as possible right away.”
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