Ferrari was one of the last teams to introduce its new car and it didn't make its track debut until February 10. That gave the team just two weeks to decide whether it would make the trip to the first race, or be substituted by last year's car. The answer came just a week after the new car was launched. In spite of favourable noises made by Michael Schumacher, they would begin the new season with the F2001.

The F2001 had been substantially developed; that, in fact, had been the programme anyway. But "at the time when we would normally release the designs of the car, we were not satisfied with the margin of improvement - it was not enough," explained Ross Brawn. "We didn't have a car which we thought was worth building.

"So we carried on developing the car. We could see some areas where we had a lot of potential which hadn't been realised, so we decided to carry on. This has resulted in a shorter period of testing before the first race."

And at a time when their main rivals have produced relatively conservative cars that rely heavily on previous models, Ferrari have gone for something completely new. "Innovation", "revised", "reviewed", "new materials" were expressions that were used extensively in describing the new car from Rory Byrne's design department.

And it was no easy task, because all the usual areas of development - aerodynamic efficiency, lower centre of gravity, performance from the tyres, and engine performance - "were close to the limit of development on the F2001," said Byrne. "In addition, the areas that have not changed fundamentally have been further refined and optimised, to maximise functionality and performance, so almost every part on this car is newly designed."

The biggest change is on the transmission. "We thought the transmission was somewhere where we could get significant benefit for the next few years," explained Brawn. "Transmission systems tend to come on stream for two or three years at least, and the transmission system we had had been with us almost since I joined Ferrari."

Was it true that engine and gearbox are all in one piece? Brawn admits that "they're all one piece, they have to work as a single unit. But there's a split down the middle and they can be taken apart, but the dynamics of the engine are the dynamics of the transmission, they work as dual functions of a single entity."

Byrne gives a few more details. "We've reviewed what has become the traditional way of doing a gearbox casing. We used to have a combination of a carbon suspension carrier, bolted to a fabricated titanium case and we've now moved away from that and the whole casing is now integral and it's not carbon any more, it's titanium."

But much of the rest of the car has changed as well. "The side pods, radiator layout, exhaust system, rear suspension and rear end aerodynamics (particularly spectacular) are fundamentally new," admits Byrne. "This has enabled us to make a step forward both in terms of aerodynamic performance and cooling efficiency and we have several developments items we plan to introduce into the test programme in the new two weeks.

"The chassis is completely new, both in terms of shape, which is a result of the car's aerodynamic development programme, and in terms of construction which has resulted in a considerable weight saving.

The 051 engine is a development of last year's 050, retaining the basic architecture of its predecessor, but Paolo Martinelli's team has worked on "power, reliability, compact dimensions, low weight and centre of gravity as well as driveability and fuel consumption." The engine was designed and developed alongside the chassis, in total synergy.

All of January testing - which included the rare sight of Ferrari running with the rest of the pack at Valencia and Barcelona - was done with prototypes, testing parts for the new car. Most of this went well, with Ferrari setting quick times, apart from January 30th, when both drivers crashed at Barcelona, both admitting blame. Barrichello had already had another accident in testing.

The new car's progress was not spectacular, but was quickly put through its paces by both drivers, Ferrari now having gone underground and using their own test tracks. However, 'short' days suggested the occasional problem. Meanwhile, they have also established a working group with Bridgestone, with personnel from each company in one another's factories.

But Brawn underlined the importance of the two weeks' testing. "Everything tell us our new car is quite a lot quicker than our old car which is why we built it, so we're very keen to get the new car running as quickly as possible. It's lighter, lower C of G, it's got better aero performance, it's got more engine power. But it has to finish. If you don't finish, you don't score points."

The great thing about Ferrari is its stability. President Luca di Montezemolo has said that repeatedly, and he has good reason to be happy. The team hasn't changed that much for years: Ross Brawn still in charge of the technical side with Rory Byrne as designer and Paolo Martinelli in charge of the engine department. Jean Todt is team principal, Stefano Domenicali is still team manager and Luigi Mazzola is still test team manager.