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MONZA, Italy - The opening races of the 2013 Formula 1 World championship will be crucial, says Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.
In 2012 eventual championship runner-up Ferrari had a dire start to its campaign; even eventual winner Red Bull took some time to establish its full potential.
With sweeping rule changes looming for 2014, Domenicali said the dynamics of the 2013 season will be different.
LOOMING RULE CHANGES
Domenicali said: "Next season (2013) will be decided in the first races. The teams will do their work for 2013 and then move on to the preparations for 2014. I think this switch will happen in July, so you will need to start 2013 well."
Referring to the 2014 rules, featuring the move from V8 to turbocharged V6 engines, Williams' technical director Mike Coughlan confirmed: "It's a huge change. There are very few teams which will be able to do a fully focused run on the 2013 championship and the year after."
Domenicali was confident Ferrari would succeed where it failed in 2012: "What happened to us in 2012 during the Jerez test will not be repeated in 2013. Now we are sure that the wind tunnel will not give us surprises."
The team's Maranello facility will be closed for a revamp so Ferrari's will use Toyota's state-of-the-art Cologne tunnel.
In 2012 eventual championship runner-up Ferrari had a dire start to its campaign; even eventual winner Red Bull took some time to establish its full potential.
With sweeping rule changes looming for 2014, Domenicali said the dynamics of the 2013 season will be different.
LOOMING RULE CHANGES
Domenicali said: "Next season (2013) will be decided in the first races. The teams will do their work for 2013 and then move on to the preparations for 2014. I think this switch will happen in July, so you will need to start 2013 well."
Referring to the 2014 rules, featuring the move from V8 to turbocharged V6 engines, Williams' technical director Mike Coughlan confirmed: "It's a huge change. There are very few teams which will be able to do a fully focused run on the 2013 championship and the year after."
Domenicali was confident Ferrari would succeed where it failed in 2012: "What happened to us in 2012 during the Jerez test will not be repeated in 2013. Now we are sure that the wind tunnel will not give us surprises."
The team's Maranello facility will be closed for a revamp so Ferrari's will use Toyota's state-of-the-art Cologne tunnel.