Ferrari News

[Anna]

Team Info

Base: Maranello, Italy
Team Principle: Stefano Domenicali
Chassis: Ferrari 150 Italia
Engine: Ferrari
1st Driver: #5 Fernando Alonso
2nd Driver: #6 Felipe Massa
3rd Driver: Jules Bianchi
Website: www.ferrari.com/English/Formula1/Pages/Home.aspx
Twitter:InsideFerrari
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuderia_Ferrari

Statistics

Year Entered: 1950
1st Grand Prix: 1950 Monaco GP
Races: 826
Wins: 216
Pole Positions: 205
Fastest Laps: 227
Points: 4757.5
Drivers Championships: 15 (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007)
Constructors Championships: 16 (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982. 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008)
Current Championship: 3rd (268 Points)

Recent Championship Positions

2010: 3rd (396 Points, 5 Wins)
2009: 4th (70 Points, 1 Win)
2008: 1st (172 Points, 8 Wins)
2007: 1st (204 Points, 9 Wins)
2006: 2nd (201 Points, 9 Wins)
2005: 3rd (100 Points, 1 Win)

Driver History

Alberto Ascari (1950-1954)
Dorino Serafini (1950)
Raymound Sommer (1950)
Luigi Villoresi (1950-1953, 1955)
Peter Whitehead (1951)
Piero Taruffi (1951-1952, 1954-1955)
Jose Froilan Gonzalez (1951, 1954-1955, 1957)
Giuseppe Farina (1952-1955)
Andre Simon (1952)
Mike Hawthorn (1953-1955, 1957-1958)
Umberto Maglioli (1953-1955)
Piero Carini (1953)
Maurice Trintignant (1954-1955, 1957)
Robert Manzon (1954)
Harry Schell (1955)
Paul Frere (1955-1956)
Eugenio Castelotti (1955-1957)
Juan-Manuel Fangio (1956)
Luigi Musso (1956-1958)
Peter Collins (1956-1958)
Olivier Gendebien (1956, 1958-1959, 1961)
Andre Pilette (1956)
Alfonso De Portago (1956-1957)
Wolfgang von Trips (1956-1961)
Cesare Perdisa (1957)
Phil Hill (1958-1962)
Jean Behra (1959)
Tony Brooks (1959)
Cliff Allison (1959-1960)
Dan Gurney (1959)
Richie Ginther (1960-1961)
Willy Mairesse (1960-1963)
Ricardo Rodriguez (1961-1962)
Giancarlo Baghetti (1962)
Lorenzo Bandini (1962-1966)
John Surtees (1963-1966)
Ludovico Scarfiotti (1963-1967)
Nino Vaccarella (1965)
Mike Parkes (1967)
Jonathan Williams (1967)
Chris Amon (1968-1969)
Jacky Ickx (1968, 1970-1973)
Andrea De Adamich (1968)
Derek Bell (1968)
Pedro Rodriguez (1969)
Ernesto Brambilla (1969)
Ignazio Giunti (1970)
Clay Regazzoni (1970-1972, 1974-1976)
Mario Andretti (1971-1972)
Nanni Galli (1972)
Arturo Merzatio (1972-1973)
Niki Lauda (1974-1977)
Carlos Reutemann (1976-1978)
Gilles Villeneuve (1977-1982)
Jody Scheckter (1979-1980)
Didier Pironi (1981-1982)
Patrick Tambay (1983)
Rene Arnoux (1983-1985)
Michele Alboreto (1984-1988)
Stefan Johansson (1985-1986)
Gerhard Berger (1987-1989, 1993-1995)
Nigel Mansell (1989-1990)
Alain Prost (1990-1991)
Jean Alesi (1991-1995)
Gianni Morbidelli (1991)
Ivan Capelli (1992)
Nicola Larini (1992, 1994)
Michael Schumacher (1996-2006)
Eddie Irvine (1996-1999)
Mika Salo (1999)
Rubens Barrichello (2000-2005)
Felipe Massa (2006-Present)
Kimi Raikkonen (2007-2009)
Luca Badoer (2009)
Giancarlo Fisichella (2009)
Fernando Alonso (2010-Present)

Engine History

Works Team

Notable Achievements

Competed in every season of F1
Most Successful Team

[Anna]

Ferrari


The Santander Italian Grand Prix weekend got underway with two very busy free practice sessions. Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso completed a total number of laps equivalent to slightly less than two Grands Prix distances: 57 laps for the Brazilian and 51 for the Spaniard, or 625 kilometres.

Fernando Alonso: “Racing at Monza is always exciting, especially if you are a Ferrari driver. The warmth of the fans is amazing and you can feel it. However, from a technical point of view, today was just a Friday like any other: we worked a lot on comparing different aerodynamic solutions as well as on evaluating different set-up choices on the car. Now we must put everything together and try and make the right choices. Honestly, I think we lack a bit of performance compared to the best, even if there are still the same unknowns relating to Fridays, especially those linked to fuel loads. However, we have to be realistic: the car is more or less the one we had in Spa, apart from specific updates to cope with the fact this track requires low aerodynamic downforce. Sure, it would be nice to repeat last year’s performance, but we know that will be very difficult. You can’t create a miracle in two weeks, but we will do our utmost to give the fans something to cheer about. What is my motivation like for this final part of the season? I am a very competitive person and I don’t like losing. It’s true, this year that’s happened quite often, but there are still targets that are within our grasp, for example, second place in the Drivers’ championship: Webber is not that far ahead.”

Felipe Massa: “I would say it’s been a good day, especially because we managed to do everything on our programme. We have understood which direction to go in from the point of view of our aerodynamic configuration and set-up. Now, we must try and optimise the car both for qualifying and, especially for the race. The difference between the Soft and the Medium? It’s simple, the first is quickest over a lap. On this track, tyre degradation does not seem to be so high, compared to other circuits therefore I don’t think there will be many pit stops. However, we have seen different directions taken in terms of aerodynamic downforce: to understand who has made the right choice, we will have to wait for qualifying and even more so for the race.”

Pat Fry: “Monza is a circuit that is part of history, one of those tracks that has maintained, almost unchanged, the technical characteristics that have characterised it from the very beginning and it is therefore pretty much unique on the calendar, especially in terms of aerodynamics. As a consequence, there is no other track where it is so important to find the best compromise between the need for a good level of aerodynamic downforce to tackle the chicanes and maximum top speed. We tried various configurations on the cars today and we got through the plan we had set out previously without any problems, which is always important. However, now comes the more difficult task, that of analysing the raft of data we have gathered and making the right choices and that is the job we will tackle this evening and tomorrow morning. From what we saw today, McLaren looks very strong, Red Bull as usual is very competitive and Mercedes is also going well because of its speed. We still need to improve a bit, having already made some progress from one session to the next. We will be trying our hardest to succeed.”

[Anna]

Ferrari


One driver, Fernando Alonso, on the podium and the other, Felipe Massa, in sixth place: that was the outcome of Scuderia Ferrari’s Italian Grand Prix. This takes the Maranello team’s number of podium finishes in this event to 62. For Fernando, it is his 23rd third place to go alongside 18 wins and 24 second places. This result moves Fernando up to second place in the Drivers’ championship, although a very long way off Vettel, while Felipe consolidates his sixth place. The Scuderia is third in the Constructors’ championship.

Stefano Domenicali: “Honestly, this result is the best we could have hoped for, given our current technical situation. The fact Fernando is second in the Drivers’ championship is amazing and I think it highlights the stuff our driver is made of. Once again today, he delivered a majestic performance, either attacking, as he did at the start, or defending as in the closing stages. Felipe also did well and I am sure he could have been right up there in the fight behind Vettel, if he had not been pushed into a spin by Webber: all the same he delivered a good race. Clearly Ferrari must always aim for victory and a third place is not and should not be something to get excited about, but the team worked well, keeping its cool and concentrating and, step by step, the situation is improving. Our aim for the final part of the season remains the same: we will try and win races and always do our best. We owe that to ourselves and to our fans who once again today, were magnificent. I am sure Fernando felt goose bumps up on the podium: standing there in a red suit is something special…”

Fernando Alonso - P3: “Returning to this magnificent podium wearing the Scuderia race suit is always very exciting. I said it yesterday: a podium place is within our grasp. We knew we needed to get a great start and we managed it, partly down to a great preparation job done with the engineers over the past two days. The start was really a magical moment, like in Barcelona, although we knew this was not our true position and that sooner or later we would have been passed. However, it was still very nice to see our fans cheering during those laps at reduced speed behind the Safety Car. There was nothing we could about Vettel, he was much quicker than us and passed me easily. The situation was better up against the McLarens: with the Softs, we could defend well, but on the Mediums they still have a significant advantage and I think that if the race had gone on a few more laps, I would have been off the podium. Having said that, I am happy with this result: we were better in the race than in qualifying, but that has been a constant factor since the start of the season. Sure, it would have been fantastic to do the double after 2010, but we must stay cool and concentrate and try to reach targets that are within our reach: today we did just that. It’s true the title has gone now, but there is still great motivation: we want to win races and try to defend the position I have just reached in the Drivers’ championship.”

Felipe Massa - P6: “I can only be disappointed with this sixth place, because today I could definitely have fought for a place on the podium. Unfortunately, the incident caused by Webber cost me too much time and I dropped to tenth place. That meant I had to pass so many drivers to try and catch up to the leaders again, but by then it was anyway too late. The collision with Webber did not do any damage: he hit my wheels and that pushed me into a spin when we were at the second corner. I braked slightly late, taking the inside line and, going round the outside, he would never have got past. I am really disappointed, because the car was not bad today in terms of pace and even when we were running the Medium tyres in the final stint of the race, we were reasonably quick and degradation was pretty low. Now we hope to have a bit more luck in the final six races of the season.”

Pat Fry: “We expected a very close race and that’s what we got right from the start. These twenty three points are more or less in line with what we could have expected from our potential at this track. Over the weekend, we worked a lot to improve the performance of the car and the result of that was there to see, considering where we started from on Friday morning. The drivers were great, always getting the most out of the car and the guys were also impeccable during the pit stops. From a strategy point of view it was a relatively simple race to interpret and, given how the early stages of the race evolved, we tried to cover what our main competition was doing. We knew that on the Medium, the performance gap would be higher than on the Soft, but we still managed to maintain this podium place which was our realistic target going into the race. The European season is over and the final part begins, which will see us travel the world for two months: we will look to do our best and bring home some wins.”

[Anna]

No eyes for Vettel as Ferrari happy with Alonso


"We have Fernando with a long and stable contract"

Wednesday 23 November 2011 - 08h45, by GMM
Luca di Montezemolo insists Ferrari can live without F1’s new back to back world champion.

Asked about the young German - who has dominated the 2011 season - during the La Politica nel Pallone radio programme, president Montezemolo insisted Fernando Alonso is better than the Red Bull driver.

"We have Fernando with a long and stable contract as we did with Michael Schumacher and, with all due respect to all the other drivers, Alonso is the best in the world," he said.

Notwithstanding his affection for the Spaniard, Montezemolo acknowledged that Felipe Massa’s contract runs out at the end of next season.

"We expect a big season from him next year and then we will evaluate what to do. Let’s say he is playing for reappointment," said the Italian, amid rumours Ferrari has eyes for the recovering Pole Robert Kubica.

[r1ch91]

So it's winter which means it's time for the traditional "we'll be stronger/confident/improved in 2012" stories. Starting with Ferrari


Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali bullish on 2012 team prospects
By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, November 29th 2011, 11:45 GMT

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has faith that his outfit will deliver a better car for Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa next season.

On the back of a disappointing 2011 campaign, Ferrari has undertaken an extensive staffing reshuffle, and promised a more aggressive approach to car design, for next year.

Those efforts appear to be paying off, with Domenicali stating that he is bullish about the step forward that Ferrari can make, and that its 2012 car will be a good deal better.

"That is what I want and that is what I hope," said Domenicali. "And considering the persons that are around in the factory, that is what I believe will happen next year.

"But the facts come out when you go on the track. The only thing I can say is that we have put down targets that are very aggressive and we work around these targets.

"We need to wait and see what the others are doing and wait and see where the cars will be in the first qualifying in Australia. But I am confident we will do a good job."

Domenicali said that the troubles of this season had highlighted that Ferrari needed to improve all aspects of its car if it was to produce something that could take the fight to Red Bull Racing next year.

"We know we have to improve the car all around because otherwise you cannot be competitive," he said. "For sure the main area of improvement is aerodynamics and, with the regulations, this is the reason why we have anticipated the development of the car.

"We try to have more time in the wind tunnel, try to work as hard as we can in the new situation where we can rely more on the data we are analysing - work hard, head down and looking forward to coming back next year."

[Anna]

Ferrari's statement on leaving FOTA

Ferrari leaves FOTA12.2.2011

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Tag scuderia ferrari, luca di montezemolo, fota, november 2011, 2011
Maranello, 2 December – Ferrari has informed FOTA President Martin Whitmarsh that it is leaving the organisation made up of the teams competing in the Formula 1 World Championship.

It was a difficult decision and a great deal of thought went into it. It was taken reluctantly after analysing the current situation and the stalemate when it came to debate on some issues that were at the core of why the association was formed, indeed with Ferrari and Luca di Montezemolo as the main instigator and promoter of ideas. It’s not by chance that the President of the Maranello company held that same position and job title within FOTA up to the end of 2009.

Some of the major achievements of the association during these years, also worked out in conjunction with the FIA, centred around cost reduction, which was of significant benefit to everyone, the big teams and the small ones. Ferrari was on the front line in this area, even before the birth of FOTA and it intends to continue down this route to ensure the sustainability of the sport in the long term. Now however, it is necessary to find some new impetus to move it along because FOTA’s drive has run its course, despite the excellent work of current President, Martin Whitmarsh in trying to reach agreement between the various positions for the common good.

Ferrari will continue to work with the other teams to make the current RRA, Resource Restriction Agreement, aimed at controlling costs, more effective and efficient, modifying it to make it more stringent in key areas such as aerodynamics, to rebalance some aspects such as testing and to expand it to areas currently not covered such as engines.

Formula 1, like the rest of the world in fact, is currently going through a delicate period. Ferrari wants to work with all parties for the future of a sport that expresses the highest level of motor sport technology. We must return to a situation where Formula 1 is really a test bed for advanced technological research, the results of which can be transferred to Granturismo cars. In addition, we must not forget that this sport must become more user friendly and more accessible to the general public and furthermore, it cannot be the only professional sport where it is practically impossible to do any training: the number of days of testing must be increased so that the drivers, especially the young ones who lack experience and the teams, can be adequately prepared, as well as providing more opportunities for them to come into contact with spectators and sponsors.

[Anna]

Fisichella meets the fans at the Bologna Motorshow12.3.2011

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Bologna, 3 December - Giancarlo Fisichella, the Scuderia Ferrari driver who races in the GT Championships was the guest at “Incontri della Gazzetta,” the usual chance for fans to meet motor sport personalities, organised by the Italian daily paper “La Gazzetta dello Sport” at the Bologna Motorshow.

Fisichella faced a barrage of questions about his winning run in the GT championships, as well as about the F1 season just ended, which he answered both as a keen observer and based on his long experience as a Grand Prix driver. “This year, Formula 1 did not produce the expected results for Ferrari,” said Fisichella. “However, the team never gives up and is already concentrating on winning again. We have everything we need to succeed.”

Asked about his own future, the driver confirmed that once again next season, he would be racing for Amato Ferrari’s AF Corse team, with which he won pretty much everything this year. “In GT racing, alongside Gimmi Bruni and AF Corse, this year we took the Drivers and Team titles in LMS and the team one in ILMC, which contributed a great deal to Ferrari taking the Constructors’ trophy in both series. Next year, we face a new challenge in the shape of the World Endurance Championship, organised in collaboration by the FIA, which gets underway in Sebring next March. I cannot deny that, at first, I found it quite difficult switching to cars with enclosed wheels after a long time in F1, but with every passing race I managed to extract more of the potential of the cars that Ferrari gave us, so I was able to make my contribution to these important wins.”

On the subject of his brief time as a Ferrari driver in F1, following Felipe Massa’s accident in 2009, Fisichella explained how difficult he had found it to adapt to a very different car to the one he had raced up to that point. “I was unable to show what I could do, but I am still proud to have been able to do a few GPs in Ferrari colours. The Maranello Scuderia is still the dream of all drivers and for me, as an Italian, it represented one of the most exciting moments of my career.”

Before leaving the fans, Fisichella took the time to give some good advice to a very young kart racer who asked him how he could become a Formula 1 driver. “Always believe in yourself and if you really want it with every part of yourself, you can do it.” At the end of the meeting organised by the Gazzetta newspaper, Fisichella met members of the Scuderia Ferrari Club who got him involved in a pit stop simulation. After that he headed back to the Ferrari stand where he handed out the prizes to the Challenge drivers who had been racing today.

[Anna]

2011 end of term report – Ferrari


375 points, 3rd in the constructors’ championship

Sunday 25 December 2011 - 11h40, by Sandrine Bouchard
In 2011, the Scuderia Ferrari was clearly the third force in the Formula One World Championship, behind Red Bull and McLaren. However, it could rely on its double World Champion Fernando Alonso to take the maximum out of his car and bring some strong results, including a win at Silverstone.

Season review

The year didn’t start so well for the Italian team with an argument over the name of its new car. Originally named F150, it had to be renamed F150° Italia… Indeed the code F150 was owned by Ford and designated its best-seller pick-up.

The winter testing went well for Ferrari and the team flew to Australia with high expectations. However, the car couldn’t match the pace of the RB7. McLaren was also faster than the Italian team which, in turn, came under pressure from LRGP.

Alonso brought the team its first podium in Turkey. It soon became clear that Ferrari’s main weakness was on the aerodynamic side. The car lacked downforce and struggled on Pirelli’s harder compounds. Alonso finished fifth in Spain, one lap down on the race winner. As a consequence, technical director Aldo Costa was fired shortly after the Spanish round.

Fifth was usually Fernando Alonso’s starting position, although he managed to qualify on the front row at Montreal. Qualifying was one of Ferrari’s other weakness as the drivers couldn’t get their tyres up to temperature quickly enough.

The Scuderia was given a boost at Silverstone and made the most of it. As the exhaust blowing was restricted, Alonso was able to challenge Vettel for the win and benefited from a slow pit stop for the German to take the victory.

Having given up on its championship hopes, Ferrari concentrated its efforts on 2012 and tested new parts in the final races of the season.

Conclusion

Ferrari spent most of the season playing catch up with Red Bull and McLaren. It managed to slightly close the gap but couldn’t challenge its rivals on a regular basis. The Scuderia soon shifted its focus towards 2012 and hopes to capitalize on it next year.

If Fernando Alonso brought lots of satisfaction to the team, the same cannot be said of Felipe Massa. The Brazilian driver disappointed this year and his best result was a 5th place finish. Even if he had some bad luck, Massa simply didn’t perform in 2011.

Expectations

Luca di Montezemolo has already made it clear he wants to see his team fighting for both championships next year. He won’t accept another disappointing campaign. So 2012 might be crucial for several people at Maranello… starting with Felipe Massa whose contract will run out at the end of next year.

Highs
Excellent reliability
Win at Silverstone
Fernando Alonso
Lows
Car not good enough
Struggled with Pirelli’s harder compounds
Felipe Massa

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
Olivier Ferret : 12/20
D.Thys : 15/20
Sandrine Bouchard : 15/20
Jean-Michel Setbon : 12/20
Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 13/20
Total : 67/100

[kelli52]

Ferrari have signed Hirohide Hamashima, formerly Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tyre development, to their technical line-up for the forthcoming season in a bid to improve the interaction between the team’s new car and Pirelli’s 2012 tyres, an area in which they struggled last year.

Hamashima has extensive Formula One experience, having led the development of Bridgestone’s F1 tyres during their time in the sport between 1997 and 2010. The Japanese company worked closely with Ferrari in that period, helping Michael Schumacher to five world titles between 2000 and 2004.

Hamashima’s appointment was revealed on Wednesday at Ferrari’s annual ‘Wrooom’ media event in the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. The Japanese engineer is expected to report directly to Ferrari chassis director Pat Fry.

Ferrari also announced that Steve Clark, formerly of the Mercedes team, has joined them to head up race engineering.

[Anna]

Seat fitting for Alonso and Massa


Next stop: a training camp in the Canary Isles

Tuesday 24 January 2012 - 22h35, by Olivier Ferret
Today, for the first time, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso made actual contact with the car they will drive in the 2012 World Championship. The two Scuderia Ferrari drivers were in Maranello today to try out their seating position in the very first car to be assembled over the past few days at the Gestione Sportiva.

It also provided the opportunity for the drivers to meet up with Stefano Domenicali and the engineers and to be brought up to speed with development of the car. Felipe and Fernando, along with Jules Bianchi and Davide Rigon, will spend the next few days at a training camp in the Canary Isles taking part in a programme aimed at putting the finishing touches to their physical training, prior to the start of the season.

Their next public outing will be on 3 February at the Fiorano track, for the presentation of the new car to the media and the Scuderia’s partners.

[Anna]

Details of 2012 Ferrari emerge in Italian press


"Many features that should make it really extreme"

Tuesday 24 January 2012 - 07h23, by GMM
Details of Ferrari’s unlaunched 2012 car have emerged in the pages of Italian specialist publications.

On Tuesday, Autosprint publishes drawings by technical illustrator Giorgio Piola of Maranello’s latest creation, with some parts - including the sidepods - reportedly "inspired by (the) McLaren" of last year.

The weekly said the car, to likely be named F12 or F2012, also has "many other features that should make it really extreme", as ordered by Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali last year.

"Some people called it (the car) bad after seeing the shapes, probably because of the hump on the nose," read a report at Autosprint’s auto.it website.

"But the final version should be smooth."

The magazine also says Ferrari has innovated to exploit the safety regulations for crash structures, producing a wing-like aerodynamic effect with the sidepods.

Another all-new feature for Ferrari - breaking a philosophy of more than a decade - is the Red Bull-style pull-rod suspension, and an engine cover rear ’hole’ also similar to Adrian Newey’s title-winning 2011 design.

The car’s exhausts reportedly exit even higher than the new regulations dictate, possibly so the gases flow onto the main element of the rear wing.

This feature may not be seen - possibly for reasons of secrecy - on the initial launch version displayed by Ferrari on 3 February.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, said the 2012 Ferrari has "long, low and narrow" radiators and sidepods, with a lower seating position for the drivers.

[Anna]

Ferrari to upgrade for final test and Melbourne

3 February 2012

Ferrari will introduce significant car updates for both the final pre-season test in Barcelona and the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Technical Director Pat Fry has confirmed. The team’s new F2012 was revealed online on Friday, as the Maranello launch presentation had been called off due to heavy snow in the area.

“The basic car is all issued and in manufacture,” Fry explains. “We are obviously working on upgrading the aero, mainly. There will be an update for the third test and the first race and then, in reality, it’s just a constant aero development all through the year. I think it’s a bit of a step away from where we have been, it’s certainly taken a few more risks on the basic car layout and things like that. I think, all in all, everyone has done a good job. We now just need to knuckle down and start pushing again for all of the upgrades for the first race and through the year.”


When asked if he expects rivals to develop any ‘surprising solutions’ on their cars, Fry replied:

“We have obviously tried to think of all of the surprising solutions ourselves. I think the rules are relatively restrictive; is there is an f-duct out there or a blown exhaust, that type of design has been shut down. Obviously there was the recent clarification on using brakes to change the ride height of the car. There are a lot of innovative people out there and only time will tell to see what they come up with.”

Ferrari’s 2012 testing programme will start with Felipe Massa in Jerez, with the Brazilian driving on Tuesday and Wednesday before Fernando Alonso steps in for the next two days. The final Barcelona test, where the first major upgrade will be introduced, begins on Thursday 1 March.

[Anna]

Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis defends 'ugly' new F1 car
By Jonathan Noble Friday, February 3rd 2012, 10:57 GMT



Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis has defended the look of the new Ferrari amid widespread comments that its stepped nose makes the F2012 'ugly'.

The new regulations for 2012 that force the front section of the nose to be low down - while teams desire the chassis section to be higher up - has led to a number of outfits featuring dramatic step changes along that area of the car.

Ferrari's solution on the F2012 is the most extreme seen so far, but Tombazis does not agree with comments that the new car does not look good.

"There have been some rumours saying that this car is ugly and I have to confess that I am not objective on that, as I don't share that opinion," said Tombazis in a video interview broadcast on Ferrari's website.

"For me I have got used to the bump on the nose. I think the rest of the car has been the fruit of a lot of detail work.

"Ultimately, as far as I am concerned, an ugly car is one that doesn't win and a beautiful car is one that does win. So, for now, I want to believe it is a beautiful car and we will have to review that after the first few races."

Tombazis has promised that the Ferrari is also likely to feature a lot of upgrades before the opening race in Melbourne, with a particular focus being made in pre-season testing of defining its exhaust configuration.

"This car is still destined to change quite a lot before the first race," he said. "We have been working in the wind tunnel and the design office on aerodynamic upgrades of the car - but we also have some very important experiments we want to carry out in the first tests so we can finalise the first race configuration."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said he was unfazed by the look of the car as long as it's competitive.

"Actually it is not really so pretty from my personal perspective but this is a value that doesn't count in F1. These kind of choices come from technical and regulation constraints, and the choice is to try and maximise the performance of the car.

"As our chairman has already said, [whether] it is ugly or very nice doesn't count a lot. The most important thing is if the car performs."