This week's Grapevine brings you information fresh from the paddock on: Ferrari Changing Gear Silly Season: Kicking Off

Ferrari Changing Gear

After a fairly comfortable win at Imola with the F2002 demonstrating that Ferrari's year old car is still the class of the field, the Formula One circus is bracing ahead of the introduction of the latest model at Barcelona: if the F2003-GA lives up to expectations, then Ferrari could be a second a lap quicker than their nearest rival for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Considering the step forward Ferrari took in producing the F2002, it is hard to see how they could be anticipating a bigger progression with the new car, but it seems they are. Compared with its predecessor, the differences do not seem to be all that much, but the sum of the chances adds up to a significantly evolved whole. Despite the F2002 having by far the lightest monocoque Ferrari have produced, the new version is seven kilos lighter - with two and a half kilos coming out of the suspension geometry and the unsprung mass of the wheels themselves. Further savings in the mass of the gearbox and engine - though not much, measurable in grams, not kilos - allow for more ballast to be distributed on the car floor, contributing to lowering of the centre of gravity by a full centimeter. These changes, combined with a slightly longer wheelbase, contribute directly to mechanical grip and better handling characteristics on turn in, and indirectly to the aerodynamic grip by improving stability during turn-in, acceleration and braking.

The aerodynamic concept begun by the F2002 has been extended further; the 052 engine is slightly smaller than the 051 - actually, that is inaccurate: it has around the same mass, but it's packaged into more convenient dimensions. This permits even slimmer bodywork from the rollbar to the gearbox, further cleaning up the airflow from the airbox to the rear wing. The side-pods are resculpted and slightly smaller, taking advantage of the longer wheelbase permitting the radiator packaging to be updated.

The size of the new, larger fuel tank, and details of the power characteristics and fuel efficiency of the new engine, are the subject of much speculation in the paddock: testing has not revealed too much about these facets of the car. In fact, the only good news the competition have taken from Ferrari's tests to date, is that the new arrival has a potential Achille's heel in reliability. Optimising on mass reduction so heavily carries a price in fragility: should Ferrari's latest offering not demonstrate the bullet-proof nature of its predecessors, then despite those performance gains, a lot of points are going to go to the competition.

Silly Season: Kicking Off

As a rule, by the time the Formula One circus returns to Europe, the Silly Season has started, and this year is no exception. Any driver who is not matching his teammate for performance is fair game for rumours of their untimely demise, whilst those who significantly exceed expectations are linked with better teams.

Heading to Imola, the biggest name on the reject list was Ralf Schumacher, who spent the first two events struggling to get to grips with the new qualifying format. Early speculation, started by Schumacher's own manager, implied the German was considering a move to Toyota. Given the stick Williams had shown him over the winter break, suggesting his performances could be improved, then the slow start to the year, and Schumacher's admitted preference for being home, a team based in Germany with a significant budget makes a certain amount of sense. Especially as their form last year was ahead of expectations.

From anticipating an opening in a front running team, it's only a matter of minutes until there is a list of candidates lined up to fill the spot. Following on from the early rumours that Giancarlo Fisichella is planning to move on from Jordan, it seemed only logical that it must be to fill the Williams vacancy. This rumour has maintained momentum despite his taking the unusual step of a public denial - with the unexpected Brazil win, Eddie Jordan telling the press he's talking to the front runners about options. With less experience, but more strongly favoured in the media, Mark Webber has been impressing hugely at Jaguar this year, putting ex-Williams test driver Antonio Pizzonia very much in the shade. Whilst the Jaguars are clearly not front running cars, the performances are eye-catching, and doing excellent work for the Australian's reputation: if he shows he can keep it up, then a move to one of the front runners could well be on the cards.

Of course, Willy Weber makes his ten percent by ensuring his drivers' contracts are iron clad, and the younger Schumacher is not an exception: unless Williams are prepared to stump up a lot more than the fifteen million they are expected to pay in salary next year, they have no way out of running the driver until the end of 2004. Similarly, Frank Williams is no idiot, so Schumacher won't be walking away early either, unless something disastrous happens this year, so it is clearly more to do with where Schumacher is going to be after the current contract ends. It might seem early to begin the posturing, not even half way through the contract, but that is one of Weber's characteristics. Now that the game is afoot, Schumacher has a couple of seasons to demonstrate he is worth having, and Weber will come to a very satisfactory arrangement with Williams in order for them to retain him. Should push come to shove, which neither anticipate at this time, then Toyota could be a reasonable alternative to the Grove outfit, but it has also been mentioned that McLaren could be interested in the driver, to replace David Coulthard, whose contract is up for renewal around the same time. Of course, that also presupposing Kimi Raikkonen continues to deliver, as the Scot is clearly still on his game.

Returning to Pizzonia, and his relatively disappointing performance alongside Webber, there are already rumours that he is due to be replaced before the end of the year. Despite coming with an excellent reference from Williams, and testing well since his first introduction to the team, the Brazilian is just not delivering the same results as his Australian teammate when it comes to race weekends. Of course, this is his first year racing in Formula One, and the single shot qualifying format is a tough challenge in an ideal car, let alone one that is highly sensitive to set-up, so his early pace is not quite as worrying to the team as it might appear it should be. Nevertheless, to keep his seat next year, Pizzonia is going to have to get more out of the car this season, and at least threaten to get on terms with Webber. If nothing else, it would quell speculation that Mika Salo or Jean Alesi might be persuaded out of retirement in a quest for experience to steer the team towards the front.