F1 | Ferrari: there is also Rory Byrne's experience in the 676

It's a welcome, very welcome return. Rory Byrne, Cavallino's luxury consultant, was seen going around the Sports Management departments dispensing his knowledge among the Maranello technicians who deal with the 676, the project theme for the red 2024 single-seater, as usually happens in winter phase.

He was in Italy already before the Christmas holidays, accompanied by his family who took advantage of it for a holiday on the snows of Trentino, but the discreet presence of the South African engineer from Pretoria who will turn 80 this week, did not go unnoticed at all.

The brilliant designer, who designed the winning Ferraris of the Schumacher era under the technical guidance of Ross Brawn, has a collaboration contract with the Scuderia and certainly does not hold back in giving his contribution to the birth of the car that will have to relaunch the fortunes of the Cavallino after a difficult 2023.

Rory, together with the prophet of ground effect, Adrian Newey, is considered one of the greatest experts on wing machines so his wealth of experience can be very useful in avoiding gross errors in the management of porpoising. He is not one for computers and simulations, because, according to rumors, Byrne has an extraordinary memory and remembers by heart certain “golden” measurements that are part of his wealth of knowledge.

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Brian Henton on the Toleman TG181 Hart, the first F1 designed by Rory Byrne

Enrico Cardile's engineering staff, therefore, can benefit from the… extraordinary support of Rory, it must be said, who set foot in Formula 1 for the first time in 1981 with the Toleman TG181 which had made its debut in the San Marine. The enthusiast of model airplanes (he had begun to discover aerodynamics with planes made of balsa wood) and scuba diving, had then followed the transformation of Toleman into Benetton, that is to say the team which, led by Flavio Briatore, had won the 1994 and 1995 world championships, before starting the most brilliant cycle in Ferrari history, called to Maranello by Jean Todt together with Ross Brawn and, obviously, Michael Schumacher.

Byrne not only has a very high technical value due to the wealth of knowledge he brings with him, but he is also a great motivator from a human point of view. He is one of the few survivors of the Gestion Sportiva to have lived through that heroic era of the Scuderia and his amarcords of him inflame the young engineers who are in Maranello today, alternating wise technical advice with tasty anecdotes.

In short, we are not faced with a “boiled” old man, as some considered him too early, but with a resource who does not have the time, nor the desire to take care of a project from the beginning (he wants to enjoy his retirement), but he is a man who holds the knowledge of the ground effect in the details.

The world champion Red Bull has built the team directed by Pierre Waché around Newey: in Milton Keynes there is a structure that knows how to transform the intuitions of Adrian into CAD models, an engineer who has never given up sketches to give substance to an idea, then passing through the drawing board. The Englishman recently became annoyed when he read in multiple sources that the team led by Christian Horner was preparing for the idea that the 65-year-old from Stratford-upon-Avon might decide to stop sooner or later. A sign that at the moment Adrian has no intention of abdicating.

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The Ferrari 676 will have a much more extreme rear tremor than the SF-23

Ferrari uses its jewel in a different way, skilfully sipping its presence, because Rory is not Newey's 65 years old, but he is about to celebrate eight decades: his contribution of experience can be precious. When he saw the rear end of the 676 he smiled, giving his consent to a decidedly more extreme project than the SF-23.

After all, Byrne, just like Newey, has always had the ability to read the rules in the gray area of ​​the regulations, bringing out ideas that had caused discussion because they were at the limit of legality. Will we find some little surprises on the 676?