All-time great bows out

By Andrew Benson
Motorsport editor

The F2002 has dominated F1

Team profile: Ferrari

Ferrari's decision to race their definitive 2003 car at the Spanish Grand Prix brings to an end the career of arguably the greatest Formula One car of all time.

The Ferrari F2002 has several rivals for that title, but many F1 observers will find the sheer efficiency with which it exerted its domination persuasive.

It won 14 of the 15 races in which it competed in 2002 and has, with victory in the San Marino Grand Prix, won another in 2003.

But at no time did it lose a race because another car was intrinsically better that weekend.

In Monaco last year, McLaren's MP4-17 won in the hands of David Coulthard because that team's tyre supplier, Michelin, out-thought Ferrari's, Bridgestone, by bringing super-soft tyres for qualifying.

Coulthard then drove a brilliant tactical race to hold off the clearly faster Michael Schumacher on a circuit where overtaking is close to impossible.

And this year it has been mistakes by Ferrari's drivers that have prevented the team converting the superiority the car still enjoyed in speed into race victories.

Among Ferrari's rivals as the best F1 car ever are:

• 

  The McLaren-Honda MP4/4 won 15 of 16 races in 1988
  The McLaren-Honda MP4/4, which won 15 out of the 16 races in 1988 in the hands of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

• The Williams-Renault FW14B - packed with electronic gizmos like active suspension and traction control, it allowed Nigel Mansell to cruise to the drivers' title in 1992.

• The Lotus 25, which introduced monocoque chassis construction to F1, and cantered to the 1963 world title at the hands of Jim Clark.

• The Mercedes W196, winner of two consecutive titles with Juan Manuel Fangio in 1954-55, raised F1 engineering to new levels.

• The Ferrari Tipo 500, winner of a record nine consecutive Grands Prix and two titles in 1952-53 with Alberto Ascari.

It is a formidable line-up, but the strongest argument in favour of the Ferrari is that the calibre of opposition it has faced is far stronger and deeper than that of the others.

The key aspect of our entire technical approach at Ferrari over the last few years has been to produce a totally integrated design

Ross Brawn
Ferrari technical director

In 1952, there was no car even close to the level of the Ferrari; and in 1988, McLaren won in a transitional year when the MP4-4's Honda engine was unmatched in terms of power, reliability and fuel economy.

And unlike the Lotus 25 and the Williams FW14B, the Ferrari had no obvious technological breakthrough to help it on its way.

What has marked out the F2002 is the brilliance with which all its various elements have come together to form one unbeatable whole.

Last year, McLaren's chassis and aerodynamics were arguably close to a match for the Ferrari's, but the car was let down by an inferior engine. And Williams' BMW engine was the most powerful on the grid; yet it was in a poorer car.

The Ferrari had all its ingredients close to the optimum.

The Williams-Renault FW14B introduced new technology into F1

This all came together to make a car that had no weaknesses.

Its aeroydnamics were superb; it changed direction like it was painted to the road; it had limpet-like grip; and its engine matched prodigious power with incredible reliability in a way no-one had before.

Not only that, but they worked together so seamlessly - quite apart from Schumacher's 11 wins, he also finished every single race on the podium.

"The key aspect of our entire technical approach at Ferrari over the last few years has been to produce a totally integrated design for which we are all jointly responsible," said Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn.

"It is not a question of what the engine department did, or what the chassis department did, but the fact that we operate as one cohesive team with every department helping the other whenever necessary."

Ascari won nine consecutive races in 1952-53

The fact that the F2002 was driven by the best driver of his era also helped it maintain its level of superiority.

As much as Schumacher's mistakes have enlivened the start of the new season, it would somehow have seemed unjust if the F2002 had bowed out as a failure this year, for it was never that.

As Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt said after Schumacher's San Marino win: "It was important at Imola to give a good end to this unbelievable car."