Struggling Ferrari to work on car development

MARANELLO, Italy - Ferrari team manager Luca Baldisserri will not travel to this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, staying behind to work on car development in the wake of a disastrous start to the Formula One season.

"The goal is to anticipate as much as possible the introduction of new technologies to reduce the performance gap as fast as possible," Ferrari said on its Web site.

Chris Dyer, an Australian who was previously track engineer for Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, will take over Baldisserri's track-side duties in Shanghai.

Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Raikkonen have failed to score a single point in the opening two races of the season.

The Maranello outfit is hoping to introduce a revised version of its F60 car in time for the start of the European season at the Spanish GP on May 10.

Baldisseri will work with technical director Aldo Costa.

Ferrari is anxiously awaiting the outcome of a hearing in Paris on Tuesday into the legality of the controversial rear diffusers that have helped Brawn GP's Jenson Button win the opening two races.

In the meantime, Ferrari has made some slight changes for this weekend, including modifications to the front wing, rims and deviators. Test driver Marc Gene tried out the alterations in Vairano last week.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)