Formula 1

Ferrari launch the F2003-GA

Ferrari has launched the 2003 challenger at the team's base in Maranello, Italy, and has paid tribute to the late Giovanni Agnelli by adding his initials to the new car's number. The chassis carries the title of F2003-GA in honour of Agnelli, who ...

Published: Feb 9, 2003, 6:01 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Ferrari has launched the 2003 challenger at the team's base in Maranello, Italy, and has paid tribute to the late Giovanni Agnelli by adding his initials to the new car's number. The chassis carries the title of F2003-GA in honour of Agnelli, who was grandson of the founder of FIAT and chairman of the company for thirty years.

Felipe Massa, Luca Badoer, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello with the new Ferrari F2003-GA.

Photo by Shell Motorsport.

Drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello unveiled the F2003-GA at Ferrari's new logisitcs centre, along with testers Luca Badoer and new signing Felipe Massa.

Team principal Jean Todt is cautious about predicting great things for this season but naturally wants his team to remain champions: "The F2003-GA is a beautiful car and I can't wait to see it out on the track for its first lap," he said. "I'm not saying we are going to win 15 grands prix again as that would be stupid but we do want to stay where we are. Rory Byrne said last year that last year's car was the most beautiful Ferrari since he joined in the mid-90s and I know that the whole group has made the same comments about this car."

"We have the same motivation as if we had never won before and have a real desire for more wins. Our competitors don't want to see Ferrari ahead of them but we will do everything we can to be ahead of them."

The F2003-GA is smaller than last year's car, has a new engine and gearbox and the sidepods and radiators have been redesigned. However, Ferrari still plans to start the season with the F2002 and the new chassis probably won't debut until the fourth race at the San Marino Grand Prix.

"We will start the season with the F2002 and introduce the new car after the first few races, probably at Imola," said technical director Ross Brawn, who believes the F2003-GA is the best Ferrari yet. ""Last year, I predicted that the car would be the best Ferrari ever made and that proved to be correct. We have not run the new car yet but the testing parameters have been met or exceeded so I'm very confident that the F2003 will be the best Ferrari ever."

The new Ferrari F2003-GA.

Photo by Ferrari Media Center.

Designer Rory Byrne explained his approach to the new car as retaining the need for optimizing performance: "As always the basic philosophy remains to optimise the aerodynamics, lower the centre of gravity and maximise tyre and engine performance. Saying that, many areas have been completely redesigned to maximise performance as many areas of the F2002 had come to the end of their development cycle."

The car has a newly designed, mechanically operated power steering system. The Ferrari 052 engine is load-bearing and mounted longitudinally and while the gearbox retains the previous mounting, it's a completely new design. Cast in titanium and with seven gears, the gearbox is electro-hydraulically operated.

The F2003-GA is due to have its maiden run at Fiorano later this month.

Car profile
Chassis: Carbon fibre and honeycombed composite materials
Engine: 052, 10-cylinder V, 40 valves, pneumatic valve drive, Magneti Marelli engine management
Capacity: 2,997 cc
Transmission: Semi-automatic, sequential, electronically- controlled
Number of gears: 7 + reverse
Suspension: Double wishbone front and rear
Brakes: Carbon discs
Length: 4545 mm
Width: 1796 mm
Height: 959 mm
Wheelbase: 3100 mm
Weight, including driver: 600 kg

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Todt - as motivated as ever

Next article Massa surprised by Jordan decision

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Honda Racing US echoes Porsche urgency over unified 2030 rules framework

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 1 h

Honda Racing US echoes Porsche urgency over unified 2030 rules framework

Toto Wolff: Two sponsors left Mercedes after promoting Kimi Antonelli into F1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

2 h

Toto Wolff: Two sponsors left Mercedes after promoting Kimi Antonelli into F1

Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

2 h

Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville

Cadillac to investigate high-speed Mexico GP failure that led to angry Valtteri Bottas reaction

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

2 h

Cadillac to investigate high-speed Mexico GP failure that led to angry Valtteri Bottas reaction

Feature

Discover prime content

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ferrari's loss became Max Verstappen's gain at F1's Mexico GP

The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

The seven moments that defined Kimi Antonelli's F1 title win in 2026

Why lap times in Mexico have been so much closer to the previous F1 era

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Why lap times in Mexico have been so much closer to the previous F1 era

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts