Ferrari has become the second team to officially launch its 2014 car, the newly named F14 T.
The iconic team gave fans the chance to help name the car in an online vote, with five options. It was a close fight between the top two, but the F14 T eventually won by 1.7% after registering 369,711 votes.
2014 is a crucial season for the Scuderia following a disappointing 2013 campaign, which saw the team drop to third in the constructors' standings.
With Felipe Massa moving to Williams, Kimi Raikkonen has made a return to F1's most successful outfit. He last raced in red at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and will will partner Fernando Alonso this year, making up arguably one of the strongest line-ups on the grid.
The team's Saturday launch followed a similar online unveiling of McLaren's MP4-29. The F14 T is the first Ferrari to be powered by a V6 Turbo engine since the F1/87-88C from 1988, which took the Maranello-based squad to second place in the teams' championship, behind the McLaren with its dominant MP4/4.
The design is unlike others that we have seen so far, particularly with the nose. It has a wide nose, rather than a thin tip, which steeply drops down from the chassis.
The team has retained the front pull-rod suspension, something that McLaren ditched for this season. The sidepods are extremely small, including the air intakes, and the rear wing features a mounting pylon.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo believes Ferrari is ready to win the world title this year.
"Now it is time to win," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in the new technical director James Allison and in the work that our people have made in the engine. It's a very complicated engine and very complicated system and I think at the beginning of the season reliability will be crucial.
Whenever we have the new rules it is difficult from the beginning to find out who is competitive, but our goal is to be on top and do our best. Domenicali has done some innovation within the team and I am very confident."
Commenting on the team's driver line-up, he added: "I'm confident because we have a strong team and I think we have all the ingredients to be very successful," he added. "I'm pleased to have Kimi back, Kimi was the last driver to win the championship with us. Fernando has made fantastic seasons by achieving second place in the last four years."
Speaking about the up-coming season, Fernando Alonso said: "I think in 2014 Formula 1 will change a lot with the new regulations. That will have some implications on the driving styles, so definitely I’m looking forward to discovering this new Formula 1.
"Kimi and me, as a team, we should be quite strong on paper because we have had some success in the past in our careers. But you need to discover every year. We start from zero, if we do well we will have a very strong team and we can deliver some good results for Ferrari. If we don’t do good enough, some of the teams will have another best pairing drivers so it is up to us to deliver and do a good job."
Raikkonen won his only world title for the team in 2007. Talking about his return to Maranello, he said: "It is nice to come back to the Ferrari team, the place where I won my world championship in 2007. Obviously the aim is the same; we want to do the best that we can, try to win races and world championships.
"The time will tell what will happen, but we are definitely fighting for the biggest victory."
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| © Ferrari |
2014 is a crucial season for the Scuderia following a disappointing 2013 campaign, which saw the team drop to third in the constructors' standings.
With Felipe Massa moving to Williams, Kimi Raikkonen has made a return to F1's most successful outfit. He last raced in red at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and will will partner Fernando Alonso this year, making up arguably one of the strongest line-ups on the grid.
The team's Saturday launch followed a similar online unveiling of McLaren's MP4-29. The F14 T is the first Ferrari to be powered by a V6 Turbo engine since the F1/87-88C from 1988, which took the Maranello-based squad to second place in the teams' championship, behind the McLaren with its dominant MP4/4.
 |
| © Ferrari |
The design is unlike others that we have seen so far, particularly with the nose. It has a wide nose, rather than a thin tip, which steeply drops down from the chassis.
The team has retained the front pull-rod suspension, something that McLaren ditched for this season. The sidepods are extremely small, including the air intakes, and the rear wing features a mounting pylon.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo believes Ferrari is ready to win the world title this year.
"Now it is time to win," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in the new technical director James Allison and in the work that our people have made in the engine. It's a very complicated engine and very complicated system and I think at the beginning of the season reliability will be crucial.
Whenever we have the new rules it is difficult from the beginning to find out who is competitive, but our goal is to be on top and do our best. Domenicali has done some innovation within the team and I am very confident."
Commenting on the team's driver line-up, he added: "I'm confident because we have a strong team and I think we have all the ingredients to be very successful," he added. "I'm pleased to have Kimi back, Kimi was the last driver to win the championship with us. Fernando has made fantastic seasons by achieving second place in the last four years."
 |
| © Ferrari |
Speaking about the up-coming season, Fernando Alonso said: "I think in 2014 Formula 1 will change a lot with the new regulations. That will have some implications on the driving styles, so definitely I’m looking forward to discovering this new Formula 1.
"Kimi and me, as a team, we should be quite strong on paper because we have had some success in the past in our careers. But you need to discover every year. We start from zero, if we do well we will have a very strong team and we can deliver some good results for Ferrari. If we don’t do good enough, some of the teams will have another best pairing drivers so it is up to us to deliver and do a good job."
Raikkonen won his only world title for the team in 2007. Talking about his return to Maranello, he said: "It is nice to come back to the Ferrari team, the place where I won my world championship in 2007. Obviously the aim is the same; we want to do the best that we can, try to win races and world championships.
"The time will tell what will happen, but we are definitely fighting for the biggest victory."
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