The spectacular F1 Racing Car Gallery at the Autosport International was a huge crowd-puller with the entire F1 grid being displayed at 90 degrees. With the title-winning Ferrari F2004 at one one and the Minardi PS04B at the other, Italian interest was catered for.
 
The engineering behind the 'Gallery' was devised by the Haymarket Exhibitions Group who came up with the idea of placing the cars in steel cradles. Adding to this unique experience was a moving colour wash that attempted to give an impression of velocity.
 
While F1 Racing magazine provided a video screen that churned out the best in F1 action, there was also an authentic F1 winner's podium with the traditional chequered background where racing fans were able to live out their dream of standing on the top of the rostrum with champagne and a trophy.

The Ferrari F2004, as the winner of the 2004 F1 Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships, took pride of place, leading out the 10-car line-up.

The Scuderia are already hard at work preparing for the 2005 F1 season, and while the principal team members were gathering in the Alps last week for the traditional pre-season 'Wroom' event, new driving recruit Spaniard Marc Gene was conducting a three day test at Jerez with a much-modified F2004, developing new electronic solutions, other components and Bridgestone tyres.

Ferrari plan to begin the season with an interim 'F2004B' chassis, and the title-winning car is now being adapted for the new 2005 regulations, which include reduced downforce and longer-life engines. At the same time, development of the new F2005, due to be presented at the end of February, is steaming full ahead, with a race debut expected at around the time of the San Marino Grand Prix.

After paying a visit to the Vatican today for an audience with the Pope, the Scuderia will then swiftly move onto Barcelona to begin a test tomorrow with Michael Schumacher in the driving seat.

Ferrari, along with Williams and McLaren, are the only three Grand Prix teams that have actually competed in F1 longer than the other Italian Grand Prix team on the grid, Minardi.

Now about to enter their 21st consecutive season of F1 racing, the minnows from Faenza also had their 2004 car, the PS04B displayed in Birmingham, the black and white liveried car being located at the opposite end of the sweep from the Ferrari F2004.
 

"We know we have to do something eventually to lift our game but we are stuck in a bit of a time-warp at the moment where we need more sponsorship to gain the performance but we need to performance to gain the sponsorship," commented team owner Paul Stoddard during an interview at the Autosport International on Thursday.

"We're locked into the last few years of the retched Concorde Agreement which perhaps in hindsight was signed for a little bit too long as the agreements before hand used to be for five years, this one was for ten. Within it contains a clause which requires unanimity to change and you'll never get that when you have such vast different aspects of life that you have in Formula One."

“I think we saw and perhaps because of the demise of Ford's involvement in Formula One, we saw a wakeup call. It was about cutting costs in a constructive way." Stoddart concluded that, "A few tweaks here and there will allow a team will a hundred million dollar budget to have their moment in time and do something spectacular."

As Minardi start their build-up for the coming Grand Prix season, new signing Christijan Albers will kick off a two day test session at Misano tomorrow morning, where he will be joined by two young hopefuls, Chanock Nissany and Nicky Pastorelli, who will be trying to impress the team enough to clinch the the other, still vacant seat.

All three drivers will use last year's Minardi Cosworth PS04B, with the purpose of the test being to provide F1 familiarisation time and to assess components destined for the squad’s 2005 car.

While Ferrari, McLaren and Williams have pretty much kept the all F1 championship title's divided up between them ever since the Italian team, then under the leadership of Giancarlo Minardi made the jump to from F2 to F1 with an initially Ford-powered car, back in 1985, the Italian team have always struggled to break away from the back of the grid.

Now owned by irrepressible Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, the little team are heading into the 2005 F1 season buoyed with their usual dose of optimism. Certainly the signing of promising young Dutch racer Christijan Albers if a positive start and Minardi are confident that the new rule changes can benefit them.