Barnard to pen Ferrari-esque rear for Williams?

Former Ferrari penman John Barnard is rumoured to be collaborating on the design a new gearbox and rear end for next year's Williams-BMW FW25.

According to reports in Italy's la Gazzetta dello Sport, the now independent designer is supposed to be working on a solution similar to that employed by his former paymasters last season, when the narrow-rear Ferrari F2002 all but swept the board in Formula One. Not introduced until the third race of the year, in Brazil, the new Ferrari sported a revolutionary gearbox and tightly-sculpted rear bodywork offering big aerodynamic advantages over its more 'dated' rivals.

Knowing that they have to revolutionise their own products if they are to compete with the Scuderia, both WilliamsF1 and McLaren have vowed to come up with new designs for 2003, even if it means starting the season with revised versions of the FW24 and MP4-17 respectively.

As a result, Barnard's B3 Technologies company, based near to McLaren - another former employer - in Surrey, is rumoured to have been contracted by WilliamsF1 to develop a rear end package similar to that on the F2002. With B3 lacking an involvement in Formula One, following the demise of previous business partner Prost Grand Prix, it has apparently welcomed the chance to work with a frontline team and to produce a carbonfibre-based gearbox worthy of challenging the world champions. The apparent decision to develop such an important component in carbonfibre was taken to make full use of its lightweight properties when compared to the more usual magnesium and aluminium and, while the latest Williams is understood to have already been designed around a smaller rear, Barnard is thought likely to include several ideas he introduced when Arrows used a carbonfibre 'box in the late 1990s.

The miniaturisation of the area around the gearbox is the current vogue among designers, following the success of last year's Ferrari, which utilised its compact dimensions not only to reduce drag, but also to alter weight distribution aimed at preserving its rear tyres and enabling greater flexibility in the use of aerodynamic downforce from the rear wing. The quick-change gearbox also allowed both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello to seize vital fractions of a second over their rivals.