World champion Jenson Button and 2008 winner Lewis Hamilton made their first appearance as team-mates as they unveiled McLaren's 2010 car in Newbury.

The Mclaren MP4-25

Ferrari design chief Nikolas Tombazis says the Maranello squad’s latest car is fundamentally different from its unsuccessful 2009 challenger.

Despite relatively stable technical regulations, Tombazis revealed at Ferrari’s launch on Thursday that the F10 design is not an evolution of the F60 but a significant departure.

He said the team’s below-par 2009 campaign, and the need to fully exploit the potential of a double diffuser, made a complete overhaul necessary.

“For the new F10 we had to review the whole car, from the nose to the rear wing, for two main reasons: the substantial changes in some of the rules and because we had to recover an obvious performance deficit we had last year compared to our competitors,” he said.

“We had to make the car longer to fit the bigger [fuel] tank, and we had to revise the car’s front end because the tyres are different.

“And perhaps more importantly, we also had to revise the car’s rear axle to exploit the double diffuser as much as possible.”

In order to free up space for a larger diffuser the F10 has a much more compact gearbox than its predecessor and revised rear suspension, although the chassis as a whole is longer to accommodate the larger fuel tank required this year now that refuelling is banned.

“Last year we weren’t able to build a diffuser that was efficient enough, because the car hadn’t been planned from the start for something like that,” said Tombazis.

“And in fact the F2009’s gearbox was too wide, so we weren’t able to exploit the double diffuser as much as we would have liked to.

“This year we completely revised the gearbox and made it smaller, so there’s more space for the diffuser, and we also worked on the rear suspension.

“Some of the internal parts of this narrower gearbox had to be redesigned; building an efficient, reliable and sufficiently rigid gearbox was an important task.

“So the area which is visually very different from last year’s car is around the diffuser – which, due to the mechanical work and [changes to] the gearbox and the suspension, is now bigger.

“Due to the work on the diffuser, we also had to review the flow to the rear wheels, where various appendages are different from those on the F2009.”

The larger fuel tank also required changes to the radiator layout and cooling system, while Tombazis said the outlawing of wheel fairings had forced the team to work hard to recoup the lost downforce.

He suggested that only the rear wing was relatively unchanged from the 2009 car: “I think that the rear wing was the most gradual evolution from last year’s car.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is convinced that Michael Schumacher would not have been tempted to make his comeback with Mercedes had Ferrari been allowed to run a third car.

The Italian squad has repeatedly called for Formula 1 to consider allowing teams to field additional cars.

Di Montezemolo believes Schumacher's desire to race was reignited when Ferrari asked him to substitute for the injured Felipe Massa last year, and that the German would never have considered leaving the team if it had been able to offer him a seat this year.

"I am the author of this big issue because it was me who gave him the will and the desire to go on," said di Montezemolo of Schumacher.

"I never imagined him with a different car to a Ferrari.

"One of the moments during which Michael was sad was at the beginning of August when he called me because his doctor in Germany told him that the bone problem was still there.

"A third car could have been useful for Schumacher, it could be useful for some young champion who, as they say in soccer, plays in the minor leagues.

"I believe had the third car been there, with all respect to Mercedes, Schumacher would have been promoting not Mercedes, but Ferraris."

Last year di Montezemolo expressed strong misgivings about the new teams being lined up to join the grid in 2010, and he says he would rather see the likes of US F1 using customer cars supplied by the top teams than having to construct their own chassis.

"We should have these minor teams, we need them to be competitive, but the idea is like in the past we would be most happy to give an American team in the colours of the US - or a German team or an Australian team - a Ferrari.

"They would spend less than making a new car with wind tunnels and investments, and they would have the possibility to have strong drivers, or they could test some new guys."

He feels third cars would give opportunities for drivers from other disciplines - like World Rally legend Sebastien Loeb, who came close to making a one-off appearance with Toro Rosso last year.

"A great rally champion like Loeb would like to run in Formula 1, and it would be nice," di Montezemolo said.

"But the teams who want to win cannot risk having drivers who are not in the best condition."

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali recently said that MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi would be a potential contender should Ferrari ever get permission to run a third car.

After the Italian's impressive test at Catalunya last week, di Montezemolo reiterated Ferrari's support for Rossi, but insisted no F1 talks were taking place.

"Let's wait and see what happens, we've never talked to Valentino," he said.

"He's shown that he's good, that he's strong - we'll see what he has in his mind, but if he wanted to drive in Formula 1 and if he had time for testing, well sure it would be possibile to find a solution.

Felipe Massa will return to racing “stronger than he has ever been” following the head injuries he sustained in his Hungaroring accident last summer.

That is the belief of Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who is not anticipating any problems for the 28-year-old Brazilian as he prepares to return to a competitive F1 environment for the first time in six months.

“Felipe is strong, stronger than he has ever been,” Montezemolo said at the launch of Ferrari’s new F10 on Thursday.

“In Budapest [after his accident last year] I told him: “you’ll be back even stronger”.

“It’s something we really believe in.”

Ferrari stalwart Massa will be partnered by Fernando Alonso for the first time this year, the Maranello-based squad having recruited the double world champion to help it bids to return to championship-winning ways after its worst season for 16 years last time around.

Although Ferrari initially chose Kimi Raikkonen as Michael Schumacher’s successor in the team, Montezemolo believes the team has managed to hire Alonso at a good time in the Spaniard’s career.

“When Ferrari decided in 2005 to take Raikkonen the alternative was Alonso, who now finds himself in a fundamental moment of his life.

“He’s matured, young and strong; he has won two world championships, one in 2005 and one in 2006, beating us 100%.

Ferrari is confident that it will be on top of both fuel consumption and engine reliability issues when the new season kicks of in Bahrain in March.

The Maranello outfit launched the car it hopes will take it back to the very front of Formula 1 after its disappointing 2009 campaign at its factory on Thursday, with the new F10 featuring the bigger fuel tank all teams require this year due to the ban on mid-race refuelling.

With the rule change therefore placing a premium on a low rate of fuel consumption to ensure teams can run their cars as light as possible in order to complete the race distance faster, new Ferrari engine chief Luca Marmorini says his team of engineers have been working hard in this area over the winter and is confident they have come up with a good solution.  

“From a technical point of view, reducing consumption was definitely one of the most interesting things this year,” he said.

“As far as the engine is concerned we worked to explore new and unusual fields of application for a Formula 1 engine and we obtained some really interesting results.”

He continued: “Drivers with plenty of experience like Felipe and Fernando will definitely be an advantage for Ferrari.

“Furthermore I’d just like to underline that our historical technical partners like Shell contributed an important share to the consumption reduction.”

And while Marmorini acknowledges that the quest for low fuel consumption will open up potential reliability problems, he is not expecting Ferrari to experience any major concerns.

“Reliability is always part of everything we do,” he said.

“Naturally, creating an engine that consumes less brings about reliability risks and naturally we worked very hard during the winter in our simulations.

“We are confident our package will definitely be reliable at the start of the season and we will continue working on it.”

The engine freeze, which has been in force since the start of 2007, means that the V8 units in use this season will largely be the same to those used over recent years, although teams are allowed to make certain changes for reliability reasons.

Marmorini says some structural alterations to the way the engine is packaged in the car have been required – particularly as the heavy KERS systems are no longer in use this year – while it has also managed to redesign certain parts at a cheaper cost.

“Fitting the F10 with the 056 engine led to some structural modifications,” he said.

“First of all we had to redesign the exhaust system, while the oil system in the car was modified, but above all we had to get rid of the KERS attachment which was a characteristic of the 2009 engine.

“Naturally we tried to improve performance, but this only led to limited advantages because the engine development is frozen.

After Ferrari's launch today, the next car Launch is biggest rivals McLaren tomorrow.

When?        Who?       Where?

28 January   Ferrari   Maranello

29 January   McLaren   Vodafone HQ, Newbury

31 January   Sauber    Valencia circuit

             Renault

1 February   Mercedes  Valencia circuit 
                       (car launch)
             Williams
             Toro Rosso 

10 February  Red Bull  Jerez circuit     

The day has finally arrived; the launch of the Ferrari 2010 challenger. The "F10" Ferrari car hopes to take Ferrari back to the front in 2010 where they belong.

With the new F10, Ferrari appear to have learned the lessons of 2009.

The nose bears a strong resemblance to that of last year's Red Bull, which ended the season as the fastest car.

The front wing shows intricate detailing, the sidepods have a unique shape which is designed to maximise airflow to the rear of the car, and the back of the car appears very clean and narrow.

Ferrari have also published some basic technical details of the car:

Chassis

Carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Ferrari longitudinal gearbox
Limited-slip differential
Semi-automatic sequential electronically controlled gearbox – quick shift
Number of gears: Seven, plus reverse
Brembo ventilated carbon-fibre disc brakes
Independent suspension, push-rod activated torsion springs front and rear
Weight with water, lubricant and driver: 620 kg
BBS Wheels (front and rear: 13”)

Engine

Type: 056
Number of cylinders: eight
Cylinder block in sand cast aluminium: V 90°
Number of valves: 32
Pneumatic distribution
Total displacement: .2398 cm3
Piston bore: 98 mm
Weight: > 95 kg
Electronic injection and ignition
Fuel: Shell V-Power
Lubricant: Shell Helix Ultra

More to follow

Image (C) Ferrari spa

It has been months since we bid farewell to the 2009 season after its spectacular Abu Dhabi send off. But finally the wait is almost over and within hours we’ll catch a glimpse of a 2010 car. First out of the gates will be Ferrari, who are set to launch their new challenger at their Maranello factory on Thursday morning, ahead of McLaren’s Friday event.

The wraps will come off the as-yet unnamed Ferrari at 1030 local time during a ceremony held at the Italian team’s new GT Assembly Line pavilion. Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, team principal Stefano Domenicali, 2010 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, and various engineers will all be present, with the whole event broadcast live on Ferrari’s official website.

After lunch, the car will make its on-track debut at the nearby test track of Fiorano. Once filming for a promotional video is complete, the new Ferrari will be packed away and transported to Valencia, ahead of the first official Formula One test of the season, which gets underway at the Spanish track next Monday.

Mercedes has officially launched its first Formula 1 works team for five decades at its museum in Stuttgart, including the first look at its 2010 silver car livery.

Mercedes also confirmed that its first car will be known as the MGP W01, with the challenger to break cover for the opening day of pre-season testing in Valencia next Monday.

Speaking in front of over 600 guests at the event on Monday morning, Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug described the launch of its new F1 team as the “most important chapter” in the German carmaker’s illustrious motorsport history.

“With today’s presentation of our new Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, a new and certainly the most important chapter of over 100 years of Mercedes-Benz motorsport history begins,” Haug said.

Team principal Ross Brawn admitted it was an honour to be leading Mercedes’s first works team since 1955 and is hopeful the squad can add to the German firm's long list of motorsport successes.

"It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today for the official presentation of the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team,” Brawn said.

“With your first look around the museum, you realise the fantastic racing heritage of Mercedes-Benz and we hope to be able to contribute to those successes going forward.

“Our team have been working extremely hard throughout last year and over the winter on the development of the MGP W01 and everyone at the team is looking forward to the start of testing in Valencia next week.”

Nico Rosberg is confident he can handle the challenge of being paired with Michael Schumacher at Mercedes this year, and says he has been assured they will receive equal equipment.

"I have been assured that we will have the same equipment. All the attention will be on him, and I will have time to concentrate on my own work."

Schumacher has previously enjoyed clear number one status in his teams, but despite the multiple champion's former Benetton and Ferrari engineering boss Ross Brawn being at the helm of Mercedes GP too, Rosberg says Brawn has promised equal billing for both drivers.

“I know he is his friend and it was important to clarify the situation and erase all doubts which might fester in the team," said Rosberg.

"I’ve got the weapons to fight against the best driver off all time.”

Schumacher has reportedly requested that their car numbers be swapped so he can have the number 3 rather than 4, a request the team says was made for superstitious reasons, but Rosberg laughed off this development.