Ferrari reacts to slump with reshuffle

Ferrari has moved to address its worst start to a season for 17 years by announcing an organisational reshuffle which sees team manager Luca Baldisserri take on a factory-based role.
After failing to score a point in either of 2009’s first two races, the world champion team has created what it is calling a ‘working party’ in order to accelerate development updates onto its struggling F60 car.
The group will coordinate development work at its Maranello base with the results from on-track performance and be led by technical director Aldo Costa, with Baldisserri charged with overseeing the development process from the factory.
Ferrari says Baldisseri’s trackside tasks will be carried out by Chris Dyer, who this year became chief track engineer after six seasons as race engineer to first Michael Schumacher and then Kimi Raikkonen."The goal is to anticipate as much as possible the introduction of new technologies to reduce the performance gap as fast as possible, which, apart from the question of the diffuser, seems to be there," a team statement said.
"A working party has been set up under the coordination of Aldo Costa, which will follow the development programme at Maranello in close contact with the experience made on the track.
"A crucial element of this group is Luca Baldisserri. The Scuderia team manager will follow the single-seater's development step by step, while his role at the track will be covered by Chris Dyer."Ferrari also admitted that this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix “must be a turning point” for its season following on from a crisis meeting which involved its president Luca di Montezemolo last week when it analysed the reasons for its troubled start to 2009.
And in an immediate bid to kick-start its title defence, the team says its F60 will feature several updates in Shanghai – including a revised front wing after Marc Gene signed off the modified part during straight-line testing at Vairano last week.Ferrari will attempt to resolve one key development area it is claims is currently handing the early-season pacesetters an unfair advantage when it, and rivals BMW, Renault, Red Bull and McLaren, take their complaints over ‘double decker’ diffusers to the International Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
The FIA hearing is set to either declare the designs legal – thus prompting all the other teams to introduce them as quickly as possible – or outlaw them completely.Ferrari says its case will be made at the Paris hearing by design and development consultant Rory Byrne and chief designer Nikolas Tombazis.