BMW Sauber technical director Willy Rampf says driveability and forgiving handling were the key priorities in designing the team’s 2008 challenger.

The new car was unveiled at a launch event in Munich on Monday, where Rampf expressed a quiet confidence about its potential.

“From what we see from our simulations and from the wind tunnel results we are quite confident that we will see positive results on the track with the F1.08,” he said.

“It all depends on our competition, and we will see what they have done in Melbourne.

“But at the moment we are confident.”

Rule changes over the winter - in particular the ban on ‘driver aids’ such as traction control and software-assisted braking - have changed the focus of designers’ efforts, putting a premium on stable and predictable handling characteristics to mitigate the increased chance of driver errors.

Rampf said the new regulations have had a big effect on the design team’s priorities.

“The biggest changes are on the electronic side: the ban on traction control and engine braking control,” he said.

“Overall we expect the cars to be more nervous and it to be easier for the drivers to make mistakes.

“One of the main targets was to make a car which is very stable, a bit forgiving, and which gives very good feedback to the driver.

“To achieve the target of having a more stable and more forgiving car, there are two sides.

“First, the target was to have very stable aerodynamics, losing only the minimum of downforce during cornering.

“On the mechanical side the target was to have good feedback and also to improve the mechanical grip of the car.”

The F1.08 - which driver Nick Heidfeld described as the most beautiful racing car he had ever seen - features aggressive aerodynamics including a large three-element front wing and lower, slimmer sidepods.

“The most obvious part which is different to the F1.07 is the front wing,” said Rampf.

“It’s quite a massive front wing. With this front wing the car is less sensitive to steering, cornering and side winds.

“Aerodynamic efficiency is always one of the main areas which has to be improved on the car to be quicker.

“The turning vane area has been optimised to create higher downforce levels for the same drag.

“The sidepod area and the engine cover is even lower than on last year’s car.

“We tried to reduce the volume of the engine cover to have a better airflow to the rear wing, which gives us more stability and also higher downforce levels.”

Other striking features of the F1.08 are the wheel fairings at the front and rear and revised suspension.

“On the mechanical side there is a new front axle and front axle kinematics, with the main target being to improve the feedback for the driver because the driver has to correct the car more often and more precisely because of the traction control ban,” said Rampf.

“Also the rear suspension is a completely new development.

“Here we tried to maximise the grip and take away the peakiness of the handling, so that if the car is a bit unstable the driver doesn’t lose the car, it’s easier to control it and bring it back.”

Team boss Mario Theissen said one of the biggest concerns this year will be reliability due to the new long-life gearbox rules.

He admitted that BMW had initially struggled to come to terms with this but feels the team now has a handle on the situation.

“The new gearbox has to last four race weekends; this is about six times the mileage that it did last year,” he said.

“So this is quite a challenge and we had to design and develop a whole new gearbox.

“This is the main task right now. It’s not just the gearbox; it is a very complex system of mechanical parts in the gearbox itself, hydraulic actuators and electronic control units which actuate the gearbox.

“We had several problems in the past, especially due to the new electronics which operate differently from what we’d had so far.

“So we had two gearbox crashes in the prototype phase, which is not only expensive but also costs you very precious time in the development phase.

“But now we are narrowing in and really nailing down all the individual technical details and I think it will work in March.”

Rampf added that while the F1.08 draws on the strengths of its effective predecessor, it is significantly different and not a single component has been carried over directly.

"The F1.07 was really a good baseline and we have tried to improve all areas of this year," he said.

"Basically we went through and set new targets for aerodynamic efficiency, stability, mechanical grip and overall we have a car which is a complete new design.

"There is not a single component taken over from last year’s car."