Um umm...
"Ferrari are so good with their French/English/German/Italian blood"
F1 is very much a team effort, but I don't think that Rory Byrne gets the recognition he rightfully deserves. Ever since the South African joined the Scuderia from Benetton in 1997, he has played a major role in bringing them success. He has certainly come a long way since his first creation, the 1982 F1 Toleman.
In 1986, when Toleman were bought out and renamed Benetton, Byrne continued to design top class F1 cars, before leaving to take on a new role designing Reynard's F1 chassis. When the Reynard F1 effort failed to get off the ground, he returned to Benetton and designed a car that gave Michael Schumacher back to back World Titles in 1994 and 1995.
When Schumacher left Benetton to join Ferrari, Byrne was enticed to follow. His first Ferrari F1 chassis design was the 1998 car, which took Schumacher oh so close to the driver's title.
Byrne's 1999 design, the F399, gave Ferrari the Constructor's Championship, despite Schumacher being sidelined by his accident in the British GP.
His F1-2000 took all the honours the next year, with Ferrari winning the constructor's title and Michael Schumacher winning the drivers title. Byrne's F2001 was all conquering, giving Schumacher and Ferrari another double world title, and his F2002 took all the honours again the next year, with Schumacher and Barrichello winning 15 of the 17 GPs.
Last year's F2003-GA again brought double world titles for the Scuderia. Byrne's latest creation, the F2004, at this stage at least, seems unbeatable.
No doubt Ecclestone will have a word with Ferrari to slow things down a bit, so as to protect his income from television rights….
Kind regards
Russell
"Ferrari are so good with their French/English/German/Italian blood"
F1 is very much a team effort, but I don't think that Rory Byrne gets the recognition he rightfully deserves. Ever since the South African joined the Scuderia from Benetton in 1997, he has played a major role in bringing them success. He has certainly come a long way since his first creation, the 1982 F1 Toleman.
In 1986, when Toleman were bought out and renamed Benetton, Byrne continued to design top class F1 cars, before leaving to take on a new role designing Reynard's F1 chassis. When the Reynard F1 effort failed to get off the ground, he returned to Benetton and designed a car that gave Michael Schumacher back to back World Titles in 1994 and 1995.
When Schumacher left Benetton to join Ferrari, Byrne was enticed to follow. His first Ferrari F1 chassis design was the 1998 car, which took Schumacher oh so close to the driver's title.
Byrne's 1999 design, the F399, gave Ferrari the Constructor's Championship, despite Schumacher being sidelined by his accident in the British GP.
His F1-2000 took all the honours the next year, with Ferrari winning the constructor's title and Michael Schumacher winning the drivers title. Byrne's F2001 was all conquering, giving Schumacher and Ferrari another double world title, and his F2002 took all the honours again the next year, with Schumacher and Barrichello winning 15 of the 17 GPs.
Last year's F2003-GA again brought double world titles for the Scuderia. Byrne's latest creation, the F2004, at this stage at least, seems unbeatable.
No doubt Ecclestone will have a word with Ferrari to slow things down a bit, so as to protect his income from television rights….
Kind regards
Russell
