MARANELLO, Italy, Feb 1: Ferrari has unveiled the car that it hopes will end a run of four years without a Formula One title.
The car´s name — F138 — is a combination of the year and a tribute to the V8 engines which will be used for the last time this season, bringing an end to an eight-year run.
The car features an open nose and a slightly different body and tail from last year´s F2012. It will be the 59th Ferrari single-seater to compete in F1.
"This is a starting point for a year with only one goal: To add to our wonderful history," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said Friday.
Ferrari last won the constructors´ title in 2008 with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, while Raikkonen won the team´s last drivers´ title in 2007.
Ferrari has won a record 16 constructors titles.
Force India launches its car later Friday.
In this undated photo made available by Ferrari on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, the new F138 Ferrari Formula One car is seen in Maranello, Italy. (AP0
This season begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 17, while testing starts in Jerez, Spain, next week.
"This is just the first step of a car that could already look different in Australia," Domenicali said.
"The goal is to have a competitive car right away," Domenicali added. "Unfortunately last year we struggled during the winter and we weren´t competitive right away. We´re trying to be much more efficient in preparation now, to have a car capable of exalting our drivers already in Australia."
Last season, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso finished second to Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the drivers´ championship and Massa was seventh.
Ferrari was also second to Red Bull in the constructors´ standings in 2012.
"We´re coming off an intense season," Domenicali said. "Finishing second was difficult emotionally. It left us with a bitter taste in our mouths."
Alonso noted that new rules could make it difficult for a repeat of last season, when seven different drivers won the opening seven races.
"I think it will be just two or three teams that will win, and I hope we will be one of those," Alonso said.
Alonso will sit out the opening tests in Jerez to work on physical training. Recently recruited test driver Pedro de la Rosa will try out the new car instead, along with Massa.
"We´re such a great team that it doesn´t matter who does the tests, whether it´s Felipe, Pedro or I, it doesn´t make much of a difference," Alonso said. "I will follow everything very closely."
In October, Ferrari extended Massa´s contract for one more season. While the Brazilian hasn´t won a race since a life-threatening accident at the Hungarian GP in 2009, he had a solid second half to last season, and finished third in the year-ending Brazilian GP.
"I want to be competitive from start to finish this year, not just for half of the season," Massa said.
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