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Is it fair, are they shaping and 
is it over? - The Heretic

January 2004 News
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The Heretic


26 January:
The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team
launched their 2004 challenger today with the aim of retaining the title for the sixth consecutive year. 
President Luca Montezemolo acknowledged though that the 2004 season will be a tough one and said "Some want to start winning and some want to continue winning. With the exception of General Motors and the Audi-Volkswagen Group, all of the biggest automobile manufacturers are involved in F1. 


Scuderia Ferrari - F2004 - 2004 Formula 1 Season

They are competitors we respect, that we have beaten and who we hope to continue beating, though we know it will be very tough. 
We know what it means to be at Ferrari, with the eyes of the world trained upon us. It will certainly be a challenging year, a very difficult one. I hope 2004 is as close as last season, but that we come out on top again in the end. Everyone needs to be focused from the off; last year we didn't make the most of our early opportunities. The task this year is to start well. We are aware that our competition will be tough and that in sport, as in life, for good or bad, the wheels keep on turning. We are already ready to win in 2005 if, in 2004, we lose out. This, though, is something I don't even want to consider."

General Director of the Gestione Sportiva Jean Todt
said "It�s like starting from zero all over again, as if we have forgotten the five consecutive Constructors� titles we have won since 1999 - a record in automobile history - and the four consecutive Drivers� championships collected since 2000 by Michael Schumacher, allowing him to become the most successful driver in F1 history. This says everything about our motivation.
This year we will have eighteen Grands Prix including the two new ones (Bahrain and China) and the return of Spa. The competition will be tough because they can�t put up with Ferrari always being ahead of the pack any longer. We have a strong squad, a winning one. 

Technical Director Ross Brawn said "Our analysis of the 2003 season has highlighted the areas where we were strong and those where we were weak. Certainly, we did not react aggressively enough to the opportunities presented by the 2003 regulation changes and for 2004, we have worked to ensure that we will not make the same mistake.
One of the key elements to our eventual success in 2003 was our Technical Partnerships. We had a tremendous response and support from all of our partners without exception. Perhaps the most crucial partnership is with Bridgestone.
What must be understood is that during a tyre war of the intensity and level we have experienced in the last few seasons, no tyre company can be totally dominant.
We will succeed or fail on the strength of our tyres. This does not mean that we expect Bridgestone to shoulder that responsibility alone. We are not going to step back and say 'it is up to you Bridgestone'. No, we have built a strong technical and human partnership and both partners must share the responsibility of producing the most competitive tyres. We will succeed together and we will fail together. And if we fail, then we will need to work harder and work smarter. 
2003 was an extremely challenging year and many difficult questions were asked of Ferrari. We faced these challenges and answered these questions with the spirit of which we are all proud. We cannot guarantee to win, but we can guarantee to always try our best."

Head of Engine Department Paolo Martinelli said "The new regulations for 2004 demand that a driver use just one engine for the entire race weekend, which means that the life of an engine must be substantially increased. Furthermore great attention must be paid to its reliability, especially in the second half of its 'working life' which will coincide with Sunday's race. To use an analogy, one could say that our not inconsiderable objective is to have an engine which runs well and strongly from its 'Forties to its Eighties.
The majority of engine components have been revised or designed from scratch: the engine can be adapted, or in technical-speak, be 'mapped' to suit the requirements of the championship (by this I am thinking of the various circuit types and the different ambient temperatures which can be encountered.)
We will not disclose a horsepower figure, but, at the risk of repeating myself, rest assured that once again this year all the Ferrari engine specialists have worked with diligence and determination in order to produce 'enough' power, delivered in a useable and reliable fashion in order to reach our objectives in the 2004 F1 championship."

Design Chief Rory Byrne
said "Although the fundamental design philosophy of the F2004 is the same as its predecessors, in terms of optimising aerodynamic efficiency, lowering of centre of gravity height and maximising performance available from the Bridgestone tyres and 053 engine, every area of the car has been revised in order to make a further step forward on performance, so almost every component has been redesigned. In addition all the systems have been reviewed to maximise performance and service ability with the new race week-end timetable and procedures. To summarise, there have been less fundamental but more detailed changes made. 
To produce this all new car with most of the components redesigned has required a tremendous effort from all at Gestione Sportiva and I would like to thank everyone for their contribution in producing the F2004."

Michael Schumacher said "I know that people were expecting the new car to look different, but what matters is the result on the stopwatch. It does look similar to last year�s car, which if I remember correctly was quite good and won both championships! Now we must wait and see how the winter testing goes, when we will have a better indication of its potential.
The next season is always your toughest, but I am as motivated as ever, for the simple reason that I love to race."

Rubens Barrichello
said "I can be optimistic about this coming year. Of course it will be tough, but I would like to start this year the way I finished the last one.
I think I have always been a challenge for Michael and this year, the championship should be wide open and I will give it my best shot. As a driver you must always believe you can do it. After 2003, I now feel much more like a winner!."

Click here for the 2004 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Page
Click here for the 2004 Michael Schumacher Page
Click here for the 2004 Rubens Barrichello Page



18 January: The Jaguar Racing team launched their 2004 challenger today with the aim of making an incremental improvement on their results from the 2003 season. The approach used for the R5 was to refine and evolve last year's R4 rather than take risks.
Managing Director David Pitchforth said "The Jaguar R5 is the first car that we have been able to design completely from scratch with our new management structure in place.


Jaguar Racing - R5 - 2004 Formula 1 Season

With our new philosophy we are building on what we learnt from last season.
This car has been started significantly earlier than in the past and is an iteration of a car that we already understand pretty well and a car that had many strengths. I would never say that we got to grips with every problem on last year's but one of the things we have resisted doing on R5 is changing things simply because we didn't understand them.
Even if we carry over some of the problems that R4 had, it is better to run something whose quirks you believe you can fix than take a gamble on something new."

Director of Engineering Ian Pocock
said "My key objective is to be able to demonstrate that the team is still improving. Our stakeholders and technical partners are demanding that we keep moving forward and that is only right.
On the track I want our drivers to see that we are constantly making steady progress. I would really like to be closing the gap to teams like Renault. I'm not expecting to be able to beat them at every race but we have to take the fight to them from the start of the season."

Head of Aerodynamics Ben Agathangelou
said "We have learnt so much from last year's R4 by working in a low-risk, conventional fashion and now that we have stability within every department of the team it has given us a chance to push really hard to make the new R5 an improvement. 
It has been an education for me because it's the first time we have had a car that we trust and understand pretty well. That has meant that we could refine and evolve it rather than take a few risks, which is what we had to do in the past."

Head of Vehicle Performance Mark Gillan said "Last year we had to ensure that people respected Jaguar again and I think we did that. The performance of the car was significantly better and we must build on that. It's going to be difficult. Other teams have switched over to Michelin tyres like us and there are plenty of well-funded outfits out there. If we come out with sixth place in the championship and the knowledge that we have done our best, I'd be delighted."

Technical Director (Cosworth) Nick Hayes
said "The CR6-V10 engine is a development of last year's engine. So it remains a 90-degree V10, but we have new longer-life requirements in 2004 thanks to the rule that means we can only use one engine over a whole Grand Prix weekend. Previously an engine would last for 450-500km but now we expect engines to have to survive for around 800km so we've been doing a lot of work on the CR6 to extract the best performance but at the right life.
A lot of the components in a 2003 engine wouldn't last for much more than a race, let alone a whole weekend, so much of our recent work was seeing how we can extend the lifespan without hurting performance. It will certainly be a challenging season for all engines on the grid!."

Mark Webber said "We have to work on our race performances - they have been a weaker area for us. In qualifying we did pretty well (last season) and I really enjoyed that part of it but you have to take that on to the race if you want to score good points and that is going to be as difficult as ever. The teams we are are likely to be competing against - BAR, Toyota and Sauber - are going to be very strong in 2004, so we have to show them some respect and accept that they will be trying to do just as good a job as us.
We have to score more points earlier in the season. The rule allowing just one engine means that people may struggle for reliability in the first few races and we have to be ready to capitalise when those opportunities come along. A good start will also give us momentum throughout the year, which we will need if we are to keep moving forward."

Christian Klien
said "I could not have asked for a better opportunity to the start off my F1 challenge. I have a very steep learning curve ahead of me but the support within the team is terrific and in Mark, I have not only a very quick team-mate but also someone who is a great team player.
I cannot wait to get into the new car and begin what will be a very intense few weeks of testing. With only six weeks until the season's opening race, the workload will be very heavy but this is what I have always dreamed of doing. There is a big difference between everything in Formula One and where I came from in Formula Three. It is, however, what I expected and what I now have to fully prepare for. "

Click here for the 2004 Jaguar Racing Page
Click here for the 2004 Mark Webber Page
Click here for the 2004 Christian Klien Page



17 January: The Panasonic Toyota Racing team launched their 2004 challenger today with the aim of making their biggest step forward in 2004 and scoring their first ever podium position. The team retains their driver line-up from last season with Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis but they have significantly strengthened their technical team with the addition of Mike Gascoyne - who designed the 2003 Renault - as their Technical Director for the Chassis.


Panasonic Toyota Racing - TF104 - 2004 Formula 1 Season

Team Principal Tsutomu Tomita said "In order to make our technical areas more efficient, we have appointed Luca Marmorini and Mike Gascoyne as Technical Director in the engine and chassis departments respectively. Everyone in the team is fully committed to rapid, continuous improvement and teamwork and it is my firm belief that this will allow Panasonic Toyota Racing to make its biggest step forward in 2004. I want to see us achieve improved race results this season and, if conditions are favourable, score our first ever podium position."

Technical Director (Engine) Luca Marmorini
said "With the new rules, we have had to look at doubling the engine's life expectancy from 400km to around 800km. Our guiding principles when designing the RVX-04 have been to increase the durability, whilst simultaneously maintaining the driveability and the performance from 2003. I honestly do not think that there will be such a drop in horsepower with the new engines, but we have had to work a lot on the lifing. The RVX-04 was fired up on the dyno in October and was run for the first time at a test on 25 November in the TF103B interim car. We will continue to work on this before we go to Melbourne, but I am confident that we are up to this new challenge."

Technical Director (Chassis) Mike Gascoyne said "The entire design team has done a very good job on the TF104. It appears to be a solid car, but we will have to wait for testing to see precisely how good it is. 90% of chassis performance is in the car's aerodynamics, and that has been the priority on the TF104. We now need to look at ensuring short-term consistency to get the best from the car, the drivers and the team in 2004, whilst concurrently adopting a longer-term approach to get Toyota to the front of the grid in the future."

Chief Designer Gustav Brunner said "We have adopted similar principles for the TF104 race car to the ones we followed when producing the TF103. Using Toyota's philosophy of continuous improvement, the fundamental concept was again that of evolution not a revolution. The TF103 and TF104 may appear visually similar, but we have looked at every single part of the car, studied it, redesigned it and improved it. There is no carry over from last year's car, but we have worked on every single part to make it lighter, stiffer, more reliable and with better overall performance.

Cristiano da Matta said "My first season in F1 was a lot of hard work but highly enjoyable. I was hindered by having to learn most of the circuits for the first time, but along with the team, I think I showed my potential. This year will be a different story and I will be on a level playing field to the other drivers, so we should aim for consistency in our performance and to make real progress to the top teams in 2004."

Olivier Panis
said "On occasions in 2003, we showed what Toyota is capable of. Our race result in Hockenheim and our top three qualifying performances in Indianapolis and Suzuka proved that we could do the job. In 2004, we have to use these achievements as a springboard, to focus on reliability and get the results we deserve. That means plenty of points and a constant progression during the year."

Click here for the 2004 Panasonic Toyota Racing Page
Click here for the 2004 Cristiano da Matta Page
Click here for the 2004 Olivier Panis Page


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