JANUARY 28, 2011

Ferrari unveil 2011 challenger

Ferrari became the first team to unveil its new car for the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship when it pulled the covers off the F150 at Maranello today.

At a special presentation at the team's factory, the Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa took the wraps off their latest challenger, which the team hopes will make up for the disappointment of losing the championship at the final race of last year at Abu Dhabi.

Fernando Alonso said, "I'm tremendously motivated. Last year was fantastic for me, where I discovered the unique spirit of Ferrari and that gave me a lot of emotions, but now we have new challenges. The regulation changes will force the drivers to adapt the way we work, with KERS, moveable rear wings and other things. Now it's time to work, to give our best, but our motivation and will to win is at level ten out of ten. Now I know the team very well, I know everyone, how everything operates and the experience acquired last year makes me more comfortable at Ferrari. I hope the car goes as quick as it's pretty!"

Felipe Massa said, "This is my 6th year at Ferrari but I don't feel old around here! I'm very motivated, and I'm looking forward to driving the F150. We've been following the work done by the team and now it's our turn to do the work in the car, so I'm looking forward to start testing. Let's hope we can develop this car as quickly as possible. The last race of 2010 was a long time ago but time flies and there's a lot of work to be done before start of the 2011 season. I'm sure this will be a very good year for us. Obviously when you drive for Ferrari the pressure is always on, but I'm calm and motivated to have a great year with the F150 and with Ferrari."

The team hopes to shake down the car today at the team's Fiorano test track before running it's first proper test next Tuesday at Valencia.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali said, "The goal is so simple that I don't even want to mention it - we just have to reach it! We have a very motivated team, re-organized without revolutions, but looking at improving the way of operating. We work on continuous improvements and a pair of drivers of tremendous talent and in which we believe a lot. The baseline for this car was the reliability of all parts, but development will be the key and the car we'll enter from the Bahraini Grand Prix will certainly be different from the one we see here. This means that in Valencia the only goal will be to gain mileage to check the reliability and to learn as much as possible to understand how the Pirelli tyres will work. I welcome Pirelli to Formula One and am looking forward to work with them. The goal is clearly to finish the job we couldn't finish last year in Abu Dhabi and pay back, with interests, the faith our fans have in us."

Technical director Aldo Costa said of the car, "There are a lot of changes in the regulations and they had an influence on the design of the car. The front of the monocoque had to change and we can not have a double diffuser, plus the rear wing is movable while the front wing is now fixed in the same position all the time. Mechanically there's the return of the KERS, improved safety measures for the drivers, as the crash tests are more stringent - including new panels on the side and the front of the monocoque to protect the legs of the drivers. Plus the weight distribution has to be within a certain range. So, in many ways, we started from a bank page. Before the first race the car will be highly revised - front and rear wings, suspensions and diffuser will be changed before we head off to Bahrain. We only tried the Pirelli tyres once, in Abu Dhabi, but they gave us a lot of data to work with. We're working on suspension developments to work well with the new tyres. The shape of this tyres is different from the ones we had last year and that creates different challenges for the aerodynamics of the car."

Chief designer Nicola Tombasiz said, "The shape of the car was highly revised but here we have last year's front wing but the front of the car is higher than in the F60, to improve the airflow under the car. The drivers are sitting a bit higher than last year and that means the airbox is also higher up. The sidepods are more sculped and with more shape undearneath. The diffuser is changed in accordance with the new rules and that means the engine exhaust have a different shape to make the most out of the new space available. The rear wing is an area in which we all expect a lot of developments, because it's a new field for all of us and we'll see a lot of work."

Head of engines and electronics Luca Marmorini said, "We worked on improved the fuel consumption, with a new pneumatic distribution; we also worked on improved reliability and in reducing the costs. The re-introdutction of KERS, that is lighter and more efficient than in 2009, forced to improve the oil system of the engine. The fuel compsution is important because there's no refueling, so we worked hard with Shell. The return of KERS, now places inside the fuel tank area, forced to work even harder on fuel consumption."