A New Era, A New Begining - Ferrari F10

Speaking to the media, team boss Stefano Domenicali was confident and stated that this would be the turning point from where Ferrari will be back to its winning ways.

In the past several years Ferrari had named the car that included the year, with an exception last year, when it named the challenger F60, to commemorate 60 years of Ferrari in F1. However, the car turned out to be non-competitive and drivers had a difficult time adjusting to it.

In the past three years the team has continuously faced difficult times. In 2007, Kimi Raikkonen managed to win the championship after a consistent performance in the second half of the season, as Hamilton made rookie errors for McLaren. In 2008, the team tactics, engine reliability and strategy were below par, while last year Massa's injury coupled with a difficult car to cope, dashed all hopes of a decent show by the team.

It is also to be noted the confusion created through the wrong interpretation of rules, on the double diffuser, last season, that hit them hard at the start, from which they never recovered fully.

With Fernando Alons signing, Felipe Massa back from injury and a good reserve driver in Fisichella, Domenicali is beaming with confidence.

His statement, at the launch, "We Want to Win again", says it all, that this team is desperate to get back on top.

The team is believed to have started development work on the F10 early, halting developments for the F60 almost mid-way through the season. This would surely have given ample time to the engineers to understand, interpret and design the F10 to the new regulations.

The technical team, under new engine chief Luca Marmorini, is confident that the F10 challenger will be fuel efficient with a reliable engine.

With cars running on full tank, an efficient lighter car (on fuel) will definitely have the edge. The engine reliability is another important area, which had let the team down in the past. With the team expressing confident on these two aspects, the fans would be expecting their team to be on top form.

The testing begins at Valencia on Feb. 1, and would give a much clear picture on where the F10 stands in terms of performance.

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