This morning Ferrari became the first F1 team to launch their brand new car for the upcoming season. While Mercedes may have unveiled their new livery on Monday, this was the public's first experience of a full launch in 2010.

The event began at 10:30am local time (9:30 GMT), and while Ferrari valiantly attempted to stream the happenings online, their website lasted no more than a few minutes before succumbing to the inevitable onslaught of traffic. Eventually a clear picture of the new challenger appeared, and when it did, it looked a lot last year's Red Bull, only slightly more red.

Pictures of this year's livery, featuring prominent Santander branding, had previously been leaked online, and rumours relating to the chassis design weren't wide of the mark either. Named the F10, the new car has been designed to pull Ferrari back to where it believes it belongs, right at the very front of the Formula 1 grid.

Speaking at the unveiling, new signing Fernando Alonso said:

I'm very calm regarding the work done by all the technicians at Ferrari. 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.

It is important that a red car wins. We'll both give it our all to improve our performance, we'll both give 100%. I’ve always had strong teammates and I never had any problems with then. I have a great relation to all of them and it won't be different with Felipe.

Felipe Massa meanwhile was keen to highlight just how much work had gone into the F10:

Many things happened in 2009, resulting in difficult conditions for us to work on the car. We started very early thinking about 2010. We were asking for many modifications not just regarding aerodynamics, but also the engine and the tank. Everything was really important considering the 2010 rules. What's very important is that every single detail can bring tenths of a second.

Originally Felipe Massa had been scheduled to run the car on track in the afternoon, but unfavourable weather conditions meant that plan had to be postponed.