Former Ferrari engineer Rory Byrne is reportedly giving his recommendation to his former team as they prepare their 2024 car.
Byrne Ferrari, lead designer from 1996 to 2006, before taking on the role of representative he still plays today and is said to have been spotted in Maranello offering his delight to his successors.
According to a report, Byrne has contributed to the design of the 2024 car, dubbed Project 676, as its February 13 release date approaches.
Byrne is one of the most successful designers in Ferrari’s history having had major influence on the cars that would go on to power Michael Schumacher’s success with the Italian team, but decided to hand over the reins to his assistant Aldo Costa at the end of the 2006 season.
But that wasn’t the end of the South African’s involvement with the team and he has since been a representative in the design of the 2022 and 2023 cars.
According to Spanish website Motrosport. com, Byrne is in Maranello before Christmas and is helping Enrico Cardele’s engineering team ahead of the 2024 season.
Byrne will be there on the 10th and would have been willing to explore a more excessive design than the one used on the SF-23.
This would stick to what team principal Fred Vasseur said recently when he said the new car would be “95% equivalent” to its predecessor.
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“Revolution, I don’t know if it’s the right word, because we’ve had the same rules for three years in a row and you can’t massively replace the stage,” he told the media during a Christmas dinner in Maranello.
“Again, it’s a matter of tenths of a second. This means that we are only in favour of returns of 0. 1 or 0. 2%. It’s not five [percent].
“Of course we have to take a step. I’m underestimating the scenario.
“We replace 95% of the car’s components. Maybe we can make a revolution.
Ferrari’s last championship car in 2008 with the Ferrari F2008. The car, driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, was designed by Nikolas Tombazis, now the FIA’s Director of Single-Seater.
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