Ferrari was the first team to unveil their Formula 1 car for the 2010 racing season. The launch took place yesterday at their headquarters in Maranello, Italy.

Wearing the name “F10” the new car is longer and a bit wider than last year as a response to regulation changes. The livery has also changed, as Santander has now embarked as a sponsor. The bank is now part of the Ferrari family as they wanted to sponsor Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard having made the change to Ferrari for the 2010 season.

Felipe Massa will partner Fernando Alonso this season and they are hoping for a title-winning car. If you wonder why Ferrari haven’t released a picture from the back of the car, the answer is quite simple: they didn’t want to reveal the rear diffuser for this season. A double-deck diffuser has sparked controversy at the beginning of last year’s season as Brawn and other teams had a superior (supposedly illegal) one which was better than the normal ones. As a result Ferrari have covered it up during the unveiling and so did McLaren (their car launch will come later in our news).

“This championship will be very important for us,” the F1 team manager Stefano Domenicali said. “The last championship, for different reasons, was not very positive, that is why we are dealing with this one looking to be competitive – and this is what Ferrari deserves to have.”

Click the thumbnails below to see the images in a higher resolution.