Simone Resta: There was a significant performance gap to be closed

There’s a name, that will be unfamiliar to most outside the walls of the Ferrari factory, alongside a job title that is also unfamiliar and new to the Maranello team: Simone Resta is now Deputy Chief Designer.

“I started my Formula 1 career with the Minardi team, where I spent a few years, he explains. “Then I moved from Faenza to Maranello, working for Ferrari, first as a designer, then as a coordinator for a group of designers, followed by a time as head of Research and Development, before taking on my current role with the responsibility of coordinating the 2013 car project. In this role, I report to Nikolas Tombazis and to Pat Fry. As from this year, the design team has been split into two groups: one for this year’s car and one for next year’s.”

his means that the F138 can be seen as Resta’s first car and he outlines some of the key details of this brand new single-seater. “There were very few changes to the regulations, but nevertheless we chose to work on and modify all aspects of the car, trying to move forward in every area, because we felt there was a significant amount of performance that could be gained with this new car. I would say the biggest changes relate to the front suspension, which has an improved layout, while at the rear, the suspension is completely new. We also have a revised sidepod design, aimed at improving the aerodynamics in this area, as well as a completely new layout for the exhaust system.

“The car we will race in Melbourne will be quite different to the one seen at the launch and the first test,” continues Resta. “In the past few weeks we have improved and indeed in those ahead of us now, we can improve further, the performance of the car, which guarantees that the F138 in Melbourne will be significantly different to the F138 at Test 1…and hopefully quicker. I am reasonably happy with the car so far as there was a significant performance gap to be closed, something which we cannot deny, but I think we have done a good job in all areas, trying to cover all the weak points of its predecessor.”