According to the Italian media, the new-for-2010 Ferrari F1 car, launched yesterday in Maranello, might not be all it is cracked up to be, with reports suggesting the team is already working on a 'B' spec version of the car.
The new car, dubbed the F10, was launched yesterday in a glitzy presentation at the team's Maranello base, but despite the assertions at the launch from team personnel that this was the car to get them back on track following a dismal 2009 campaign, the Italian media suggests otherwise.
Although the suggestion that Ferrari was working on a new version of their car already, before the F10 had even hit the test track, has not been commented on by the Italian team itself, the Times newspaper reports that the rumour was "sweeping the Italian media" and that the F10 was "not as good as the team were hoping for".
Should this be true, it would be a disaster for the team, which stopped developing the F60 car in the middle of last season, specifically to concentrate on their 2010 model.
Another weak performance in 2010 would see the Italian team continue a slide down the grid which began when the team lost a number of key personnel, including Michael Schumacher, at the end of 2006.
Gerhard Berger pointed this out to Switzerland's Blick publication, saying: "Even with Alonso, Ferrari's overall package is not as strong as it once was with Schumacher.
"They are now missing [Jean] Todt, [Ross] Brawn and the often underestimated designer [Rory] Byrne. And without the right people, soon you are lost."
Speaking at the launch though, new Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso seemed confident in his new car.
"I'm very calm regarding the work done by all the technicians at Ferrari," Alonso smiled deliberately, "We have the best technicians in the world. The work we're doing in February, with Felipe's and my suggestions on the car, makes me really confident as far as the first race is concerned."
The Ferrari team were also hit by bad news today, after the rescheduled shakedown of the F10 was again cancelled with conditions at the Fiorano track still too icy to allow for any running. Felipe Massa had been due to give the car a basic shakedown, but the F10 will now be driven for the first time at the Valencia test on Monday.
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