Graphic: The 2008 Ferrari

During his years at Ferrari, Michael Schumacher used to contact the factory at Maranello during the close season to inquire about how his “baby”, the new car, was coming on. Yesterday one of his successors in the Ferrari cockpit, Felipe Massa, used the same imagery when talking of this year’s challenger — the F2008.

“I’ve never had a son but for the team it’s like a baby has been born,” the Brazilian, who has been mentored by Schumacher since the German’s retirement, said. “It’s a special day and now we need to work hard to ensure that the child grows and becomes as fast as possible. The 2008 season is all about this child. I hope that this child will give us the ability to win.”

The “child” in question, codenamed “659” by Ferrari, is regarded as a logical evolution of the team’s 2007 machine, which traded race wins with the McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 and was fastest on the grid in ten of the 17 races.

The weaknesses last year, that the new car will hope to address, came on twisty circuits where the McLaren was more efficient, over steep curbs at tracks like Monza and, surprisingly perhaps, in the area of reliability where the 2007 car was outshone by the “silver arrows”.

Like all the new cars on the grid this year, the Ferrari comes without driver aids in accordance with new rules, so there is no traction control, no engine braking or electronically-assisted starting, something which should help increase driver input in performance. The car is also fitted with a McLaren-supplied electronic control unit that all cars are required to use.

Other rule changes require greater protection for the driver’s head with higher side protection made from strictly defined materials, that add weight to the car in comparison to last year’s model, and a transmission system and gearbox that must last four races before being replaced.

Aldo Costa, the Ferrari technical director, says that the F2008 is a completely new machine within the restrictions of the rules and all areas have been looked at in the search for better performance. Among the key features are an all-new aerodynamic package that will rapidly develop as the season progresses, a new suspension system, an even quicker gearbox, a more cut-away shape to the carbon-fibre monocoque under the driver’s legs and a revised weight distribution on a shorter wheelbase than last year’s car.

Costa is confident that the new car is on the right track. “The first tests at Barcelona and Jerez were positive,” he said recently. “We simulated four races with no problems. Our intention is to start 2008 strongly. We will push to the maximum during the winter break to show up at the start of the season in good condition.”