Ferrari Counts Cost Of Replacing Rory.

Ferrari is expecting to have to pay for a new designer, after current incumbent Rory Byrne confirmed his intention to leave the team.


The failure to lure McLaren man Adrian Newey to Maranello has led Ferrari to approach Jordan's Mike Gascoyne and Arrows' Eghbal Hamedy as possible substitutes for South African Byrne, who is expected to retire to the Asian peninsular as he planned to do before joining Ferrari. His decision to postpone his departure from F1 was due, in part, to the Italian team acquiring both Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn, colleagues at the title-winning Benetton outfit in 1994-95.


Both of the Scuderia's latest targets come with a heavy price tag, however, as neither Gacoyne nor Hamedy is at the end of a contract with their current teams. Gascoyne, who succeeded Gary Anderson at Jordan, is understood to have another two years of his deal to run, while former Williams and Stewart man Hamedy has only just started a three-year contract with Arrows.


Although neither team will want to lose such talented individuals, Ferrari's bank balance may yet persuade them otherwise, as it seeks to maintain the run of success built up during the Byrne-Brawn-Schumacher years.