Ferrari Unveils F10 2010 F1 Challenger

The F10, Ferrari's challenger for the 2010 F1 season

Ferrari has become the first Formula 1 team to unveil their 2010 car, F10 on thursday at their Maranello headquarters in Italy.

The new car will be driven by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa as Ferrari hopes to reverse their fortunes for the 2010 season. 2009 was a forgettable year for the team which saw them win just one race while finishing a distant 4th in constructor championships.

The new F10 is longer than the outgoing car primarily because of the larger fuel tank since teams are no longer allowed mid-race re-fuelling. The front wheels are narrower than the rear one’s and the whole braking system has been modified to suit the larger weight the fuel heavy car is going to carry.

The engine type of the new F10 is o56 while the chassis is a carbon fibre and honeycomb composite structure with a much bigger diffuser.

The event was kicked off by Team Principal Stefano Domenicali which was attended by Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso. The team’s engineering team, including technical director Aldo Costa, engine boss Luca Marmorini and designer Nikolas Tombazis, as well as Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemelo were also in attendance at the Maranello launch.

This would be Fernando’s first outing with the Maranello based team. The 2 times world champion was visibly excited and predicted that the F10 would be the car to reclaim his and Ferrari’s title winning ways.

“This is my first presentation with Ferrari, and it means a lot to me,” said the Spaniard. “I’d like to thank the whole team because I know they have worked really hard over the last few months to create this dream, this new car. We are ready to take on this challenge. Felipe and I will be a very strong team and we hope that we will make all the Ferrari supporters around the world very proud to see this car winning the championship.”

“This car is the result of a very intense programme of work which started in the spring of 2009,” said Costa. “This activity became more intense during the summer following our strategic choice to leave the development of the F60 and focus on the development of this car. It contains all the passion and all the determination of a very confident group. We want to forget what happened last year and be competitive from the very first race.”