Fast Cars

Ferraris Formula One designer is giving more responsiblity to his likely successor.

The man responsible for designing Ferrari’s championship winning car the past six years says his fingerprints will not be as noticeable on the new car. Rory Byrne, who has two years remaining on his contract with Ferrari, says the team plans to start the 2005 season with an interim version of the new car, which is being managed by his likely successor, Aldo Costa.

“Costa has been my right arm for many years – I trust him very much,” Byrne tells the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. “When the time comes for my retirement, he will have to be in charge of the entire system.”

Byrne has been with Ferrari since leaving Benetton at the end of 1996. He, alongwith Jean Todt and Ross Brawn have been the braintrust at Maranello, guiding Ferrari back to the top of the Formula One ladder. Byrne says the F2005 will not be ready until the end of February and likely won’t make its debut until the F1 season is three to five races old.