This week's Grapevine brings you information fresh from the paddock on: BAR on a High Ferrari Moving the Goalpost

BAR on a High

Both the Honda-powered teams are on something of a high at the moment, as the circus wends its way to Hungary and the Hungaroring; however, whilst Jordan's is based on the short term and the latest update from Honda, BAR are looking forward to the next couple of seasons too.

David Richards delight in signing Jenson Button is providing some merriment in the paddock, as the team owner believes he has signed the deal of the decade. He can't believe his fortune that Renault released the Briton with the leading drives for next year already accounted for. Faced with a choice between Sauber, Jaguar, Toyota and BAR, the team who offered the best promise for the future was sure to sign him for a very reasonable sum. As it turned out, Richard's vision of the next four years fitted Button's plans just nicely.

Button is not in the game for pure financial gain - if he was, then there was no way he could have turned down the Jaguar offer; whilst short of the salary that Jacques Villeneuve commands, even without considering performance bonuses, the figures being bandied about were impressive. Sauber and Toyota proved only a distraction otherwise: neither really offered more than Jaguar for opportunity, and certainly not for salary.

As Richards is happy to admit, BAR's approach for Button came very late in the day. Button had been considering his options for the next couple of years, and was still trying to work out if he could justify tying himself to Jaguar, when they clearly had no idea how to get to the front of the grid. Had they been threatening to move up the grid, the deal would have been done and dusted a long time before BAR knew Renault really were dropping him; however, even the financial sweetener was failing to make it easy to swallow at least two more years of propping up the grid. So BAR's approach proved to be a godsend, when it arrived.

So, what was special about BAR's promises for 2003 and beyond?

One of the biggest issues, it has to be said, is the heart of the car: a good engine. In terms of that aspect of the future, the team are able to assure Button that they have works backing from Honda for at least the next three years. Actual engine performance figures are a closely guarded secret in the sport - though teams have some very sophisticated ways to estimate what their rivals are capable of. Headline figures (horsepower, torque) are nearly meaningless without the means to turn that power into traction, but they provide a useful yardstick for measuring improvements.

On the technical side, Geoff Willis was a serious factor in Button's estimation of the team. Having worked with the ex-Williams designer, the driver knows that he can have a modicum of faith in the promises made on the design of the next couple of cars. Indeed, looking at BAR's progress this season, it is easy to see that since Richards took the helm, the whole team have been improving relative to the competition. There is a sense of focus with them at Grand Prix weekends, replacing what, by F1 standards, could have been considered a complacent approach before.

Finances for 2003 are not finalised, so it is impossible to complete the budget. The question of how much the team will be putting into Jacques Villeneuve's pocket is a factor, for sure, but the biggest issue is the state of the world economy, and how much cash marketing departments are going to find for corporate sponsorships. It makes it difficult to talk in realistic terms about how fast BAR are going to get to the front of the grid, as finances directly affect the development schedules, but even with a fairly conservative eye on the future, Richards talks a good four-year plan. Through the off-season, the team will put together next year's car, and either consolidate on Richard's technical line-up, or make changes to strengthen weak areas. The target for the end of year is to make sure the platform is right for the following two years, with the aim of leading the field by the third.

On the downside, Button's experience of manufacturer promises to date are based on his times at Williams and Benetton. BMW and Renault are not known for failing to live up to promises: when they say they'll deliver something, they generally do. Honda, on the other hand, have a tendency to make optimistic projections. At least David Richards is known for delivering!

Ferrari Moving the Goalpost

Even as McLaren and Williams face up to the work required for closing the gap to Ferrari, the Maranello outfit is getting set to make life difficult for the would be challengers.

One of the most important advantages of a dominant car and stable regulations, is that it offers the team a chance to delay the introduction of their new car until it is 'right' - as Ferrari demonstrated this year, a strong, reliable car is no handicap. Especially considering that the revolutionary steps Williams and McLaren will need to make to close the gap will inevitably lead to teething problems in the new cars.

In order to keep their lead, Ferrari are leaving no stone unturned in the quest for speed, in every aspect of the car. At the root of the changes for next season, is the engine. It seems that the researches have worked out how to propagate flame in the combustion chamber slightly more efficiently, which will let them widen the bore marginally - so expect revs to go up. This, in turn, requires a change in the shape of the engine, making it fractionally lower and wider; tolerances can be kept tight, thanks to improvements in the technology for the block, but this still changes the packaging requirements, and the aerodynamics of the back of the car fairly significantly. The gearbox will move, too, so the rear suspension also needs to be revised. Another side effect of the increased bore, is an overall increase in heat generated by internal friction, so cooling requirements go up. Having said which, radiators technology continues to improve the efficiency of heat transfer, so precise requirements are awaiting an engine on the dynamometer for precise measurements to be made.

Quite what Ferrari's new engine and chassis will do is not going to be known for sure until they take the new car to a race; even now, work continues on the search to improve the gearbox, save weight in the chassis, gain response from the suspension and improve the aerodynamic efficiency. Many of the improvements will offer scant thousandths of a second over the current car, but by the time they are added up, the whole is expected to amount to considerable gains.

There's no denying it, wresting the World Championship from Ferrari is going to be a daunting task.