Stylish Ferrari unveil 'aggressive' car for F1 2012 season, lament ugly nose

Ferrari unveiled their 2012 Formula One car via the Internet Friday after their usual glittering launch had been cancelled due to snow in Maranello, where driver Felipe Massa was given a frosty reminder that he must shape up this year. The Italian glamour team have endured several difficult seasons since Kimi Raikkonen, now back in the sport with Lotus, won their last drivers’ title and helped them to the constructors’ championship in 2007. They finished third last season with former double world champion Fernando Alonso fourth in the driver standings and Massa a distant sixth as Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull destroyed the field. [caption id=“attachment_202883” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The new Ferrari. Image from their website.”]  [/caption] But Ferrari have blamed Formula One’s 2012 regulations for making the nose of their new car “not aesthetically pleasing” while also revealing that the front wing of the F2012 will evolve in the coming months. The car, codenamed Decca music label within the Maranello factory of the sport’s oldest team, includes several radical changes as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa look to regain Ferrari’s glory days after four years of disappointment. The new rules state that cars this season must alter the height of the front section of the chassis, the position of the exhaust pipes and the mapping for the electronic engine management. Changes to the nose have especially upset the glamour team, who have always wanted to look good on and off the track. “The nose has a step in it that is not aesthetically pleasing: with the requirement from the regulations to lower the front part, this was a way of raising the bottom part of the chassis as much as possible for aerodynamic reasons,” a team statement said on Friday. The 58th F1 single-seater built by Ferrari also has a new suspension with the front wing still to be fully developed. “Both the front and rear (suspensions) feature pull-rods, aimed at favouring aerodynamic performance and lowering the centre of gravity. The front wing is derived from the one introduced on the 150º Italia in the final part of its racing life (last season) and has been evolved from there. “Further evolutions are planned in this area for the opening races of the season,” the statement added. The sides have a new look with the radiators in a different place while the lower part of the back of the car is narrower thanks partly to a new gearbox casing. The front and rear air intakes for the brakes have been changed while the engine is little changed from last year’s car given the technical regulations. The kinetic energy recovery system has kept its low central location but has also been redesigned. Ferrari — a distant third behind champions Red Bull and second-placed McLaren last year — said much would still change during the year. “The car is due to undergo a very intensive development programme over the first part of the season,” the statement said. Testing, of which there is only 12 days, begins in Spain’s Jerez next week with the first race in Melbourne on 18 March. Brazilian Massa, who labelled the F2012 “aggressive” because of its radical new look, has suffered two poor campaigns and was warned he must perform this season with his contract up at the end of the year. “As for Massa, he knows as much as we know that he has to do something great, something better after a not-so-positive season,” Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said in a video link on www.ferrari.com. “We are offering him the best conditions to do a great job.” Team principal Stefano Domenicali added: “I’m sure this year, after a difficult season, he will be able to show his value.” Massa, so close to the title in 2008 before being pipped on the last corner by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, has not looked the same driver since being badly injured in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009. Wednesday, he tried to show that the fire was back in his belly after ripping off the F2012’s cover with Alonso. “Let me tell you that it looks very aggressive, it was something that was part of my dreams,” Massa told the web video. “It’s a very important year for me and the whole team of course; 2012, this is going to be the victory year. We are going to fight to get the championship back,” he said. “I really feel focused on winning. There are positive things in my head and I want to finish the championship in a better way.” There was nothing but praise from Montezemolo and Domenicali for dogged fighter Alonso, who won his two titles with Renault and is now in his third season with Ferrari having narrowly missed out on a third championship in 2010. “It looks very different actually from what we have seen the last two years,” Spaniard Alonso said. “I’m going to start with the same strength, force and determination. It’s going to be a challenging season.” Reuters