FERRARI REVEALS THE SF15-T

Scuderia Ferrari has officially unveiled its new car for the 2015 Formula 1 season, the SF15-T.

In an online launch called “The Revelation”, the team released a video profiling the new car, which once again runs in the traditional red that the team is famous for.

Ferrari enters the 2015 season as a very different team to the one that raced in 2014. A gradual revolution at Maranello saw marque president Luca di Montezemolo, team principal Stefano Domenicali and his replacement Marco Mattiacci all leave, with lead driver Fernando Alonso also departing in favor of a move to McLaren.

Now, the team is under the management of new president Sergio Marchionne and team principal Mauricio Arrivabene, whilst four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel joins from Red Bull to partner Kimi Raikkonen.

“I said a long time ago the best car is the winning car,” Arrivabene said. “Last year we had an ugly car and it was a non-winning car. On top of this, I like the car of this year in terms of aesthetics. I don’t know about performance, but it looks really sexy.”

In spite of the changes, Arrivabene does not feel that the philosophy of Ferrari has been changed, and is instead looking to restore the spirit that can take the team back to the top of F1.

“It doesn’t affect the philosophy of Ferrari,” he said. “The philosophy of Ferrari was dictated by the founder, Enzo Ferrari.

“The work to do is to enhance the team spirit and the passion that was a little bit lost in the past few years, and to look to work together very hard with one objective: to win as much as possible.”

Since its domination of F1 came to an end in 2005, Ferrari has entered something of a dry spell, winning just one drivers’ championship in the past 10 years. Fernando Alonso’s arrival in 2010 was meant to take the team back to the top, but he was forced out at the end of last season after five unsuccessful seasons.

The arrival of Sebastian Vettel is set to rejuvenate the team, bringing with him the experience of four straight world titles between 2010 and 2013. However, he too has critics to answer after a disappointing campaign in 2014, whilst Kimi Raikkonen’s motivation has come into question in recent years.

Ferrari is not expecting to be fighting for the world championship immediately under this new regime. Arrivabene has instead chosen to remain realistic, targeting two grand prix wins in 2015. Much like McLaren, Ferrari’s revival is a long-term project.