This is the brand new 2010-spec Ferrari. Will it be able to translate its aggressive looks to on track success following a difficult 2009 season? The new F10 certainly looks the part with the Red Bull Racing’s inspired high nose and long wheelbase design. The F10 was unveiled to the public via the official Ferrari website from the team’s base in Maranello, Italy.

New signing Fernando Alonso and the returning Felipe Massa will be hoping the new 2010-spec Prancing Horse can deliver better results after a frustrating campaign last season.

Ferrari took only a single victory in 2009 courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen at the Belgian Grand Prix but that was the only highlight for the Italian team.

With the F10, the Maranello-based outfit are feeling pretty confident that the new car will win races and hopefully the title.

“This championship will be very important for us,” said team boss Stefano Domenicali. “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.”

He added: “We have two new drivers, why two new drivers? Fernando Alonso, is a twice world champion and we will say after the second one he will have a third one. He already appears among the big champions in F1, it is the right moment for him, for us, he wants to be successful and we want to repeat what the team concept is in our group.

“Felipe, we are talking of a new version of Felipe, but after such a dramatic championship like last year with the accident in Hungary and such a fantastic season, Felipe has all the assets to prove that he is a very successful one, he can prove that he wants to restart his pathway that destiny interrupted it in Hungary. Good luck to both of them.”

Technical specifications on the F10:

Chassis

Carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Ferrari longitudinal gearbox
Limited-slip differential
Semi-automatic sequential electronically controlled gearbox – quick shift
Number of gears: Seven, plus reverse
Brembo ventilated carbon-fibre disc brakes
Independent suspension, push-rod activated torsion springs front and rear
Weight with water, lubricant and driver: 620 kg
BBS Wheels (front and rear: 13-inch)

Engine

Type: 056
Number of cylinders: eight
Cylinder block in sand cast aluminium: V 90°
Number of valves: 32
Pneumatic distribution
Total displacement: .2398 cm3
Piston bore: 98 mm
Weight: > 95 kg
Electronic injection and ignition
Fuel: Shell V-Power
Lubricant: Shell Helix Ultra

This is the new colour scheme for the Mercedes GP Petronas team. As expected, the ‘Silver Arrows’ treatment has been added along with the shades of green due to the new sponsorship deal with the Malaysian oil company.

Even though the car presented at the Mercedes-Benz motor museum in Stuttgart is basically last year’s BGP-001 with a new paint job, the proper 2010 Mercedes – to be called the MGP W01 – will be officially unveiled on February 1^st at the Valencia race track.

The colour scheme is a tribute to the German’s manufacturer rich motor sport history, in particular the 1955 championship. That season, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss represented the ‘Three-Pointed Star’ with the W196 and it marked the last season in which the manufacturer competed in Grand Prix racing.

By returning to Formula One this season, it signals a return as a team in its own right after ending its long-time partnership as an engine supplier with McLaren, which dated back to 1995.

Hopefully the new livery will reward success for both Nico Rosberg and seven times world champion Michael Schumacher as the car hits the tracks this coming season.

Multiple Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher will make his return to the sport driving for the new Mercedes GP team in 2010. The German will race alongside compatriot Nico Rosberg in the rebranded team that took the drivers’ and constructors’ titles as Brawn GP in 2009.

News speculation surrounding the identity of the second driver at Mercedes has been mounting for days with the initial rumour pointing to Nick Heidfeld. But it seems that the seven-times world champion was the more suitable candidate to lead the team to another championship success and with Schumacher rejoining the ‘three-pointed star’ he reunites his former racing colleague Ross Brawn, who masterminded all seven of his titles at Benetton and Ferrari.

Schumacher’s return to Formula One comes after three years since announcing his retirement at the end of the Italian Grand Prix. Since then, the German still maintains his competitive spirit by taking part in karting event and motorcycle races. Unfortunately in one of those motorcycle races, he suffered a neck injury in a crash.

That injury proved a major setback for Michael, as he was assigned to replace the injured Felipe Massa in the Ferrari. Due to his neck injury, Schumacher sadly declined the offer to step-in the F60 and the Scuderia gave the unique opportunity to test driver Luca Badoer and Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella instead.

Michael commented he was deeply disappointed at the time, and it may have been the excitement he felt about returning to Formula One then that helped motivate him to conclude the deal with Mercedes GP.

German newspaper Bild is reporting that Schumacher has signed a one-year deal and it is likely he will have the option to continue beyond 2010 if his return goes well. In addition, it is reported that Michael will earn £6.2 million racing the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team – the official team’s title for next season, with the Malaysian oil company announced as a major sponsor.

With Michael Schumacher competing in Formula One once again and representing ‘Team Germany’ with Mercedes, the 2010 Formula One World Championship is going to be a fascinating season. To witness the wheel-to-wheel duel against former champions Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button (Ferrari and McLaren respectively) is going to be spectacular. Hopefully, Michael still has that racing sprint to compete with the young pretenders.

From next season, a new points system has been devised for the Formula One World Championship with the top ten drivers awarded points.

At present, only the top eight finishers receive championship points with ten going to the winner, then eight for finishing in second, six for third, five, four, three, two and one.

With the new points system proposed by the F1 Commission, the race winner will now receive 25 points, then 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2 and 1.

The increase in points is part of a new scheme to award championship points to the top ten finishers in each race due to the expanded grid in 2010.

Taking this new system into account, that means the new Formula One world champion Jenson Button has amassed 230.5 points compared to the actual 95 points he earned in taking the drivers’ title this season.

However, the margin of points between each finishing position seems rather inconsistent, with only a two-point difference between seventh and eighth, while only a single point for sixth and seventh.

In addition, there is only a five-point gap for the race winner and the driver coming home in second. The importance of winning the Grand Prix should have been made more significant, like 30 points for example. By adopting this idea, the driver behind will push even harder for the overall victory.

Hopefully the new system will encourage drivers to overtake each other in the race. Whether it will improve the spectacle remains to be seen.

Former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen has joined Citroen’s junior rally team and will take part in the series from next season.

The 30-year-old Finn, who left Ferrari a year early at the end of the 2009 season, will compete in twelve of the thirteen rounds of the World Rally Championship driving a Red Bull-sponsored C4 rally car.

His co-driver will be Kaj Lindstrom, who was the co-driver for multiple WRC champion Tommi Makinen.

Earlier this year, Raikkonen made his rallying debut in an S2000 Abarth (pictured above) competing at his home event in the Rally of Finland. Despite crashing out on leg two, the Finn earned the respect of the series regulars for the speed with which he adapted to driving on the special stages.

Raikkonen has hinted for many years that he was keen to pursue a career in rallying after Formula One, and when the Finn announced last month that he would take a sabbatical following the breakdown of his talks with McLaren, the WRC was seen as his most likely destination.

It will be fascinating next season in how the Iceman will adapt to the rally scene including driving sideways!

The last couple of days in the Formula One world have reveal several major changes to the new 2010 season.

The first news story is Mercedes purchasing a 75.1 per cent share of Ross Brawn’s racing team. Following the success of winning the championship double, the German car manufacturer has latched onto the Brawn GP outfit and has rebranded the team as Mercedes GP for the following season.

Nico Rosberg is expected to drive for the Silver Arrows with a possibility of running Nick Heidfeld as the second German driver.

This takeover maybe one of the reason (other than pay) that has forced Jenson Button to look for a new drive elsewhere. Though there are stories that his manager was asking for more money from Ross Brawn since Button is the current Formula One world champion.

Following the buyout of Brawn GP, the focus shifted to Kimi Raikkonen. Where would the Iceman end up next season? With Fernando Alonso joining the Scuderia in 2010, the Finn was on his way out after three years representing the Prancing Horse.

There were two teams available to Kimi, his old former team McLaren and the massively financially-backed Toyota racing organisation. Unfortunately, the Japanese manufacturer pulled out with immediate effect blaming the current economical crisis, so the only place to go was McLaren.

But the amount of money Raikkonen’s management was asking for to drive the McLaren was way too much and without a race-winning car available, the Finn announced that he was taking a sabbatical from the sport.

This paved way for Jenson Button. The 2009 world champion couldn’t reach an agreement with Ross Brawn/Nick Fry over an increase in pay after winning the title, so the only option was to take the seat alongside Lewis Hamilton.

By having two British champions at McLaren-Mercedes, it brings a sense of excitement to motor racing fans. It will be interesting how these two great drivers will work with one another but one thing is certain, it marks the strongest pairing since Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost back in the late 80s and early 90s.

Whether Button can cope with the new pressure environment at McLaren or his extremely fast team-mate remains to be seen. Sir Jackie Stewart has commented that he has made an unwise decision to switch teams. But what can be said is that Formula One 2010 is shaping up to be a classic.

Formula One has lost its third team in less than 12 months with the news that Toyota will quit the sport with immediate effect.

The Japanese car company revealed the decision during a news conference in Tokyo. It said the current economic situation had prompted its departure.

“Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces it plans to withdraw from the FIA Formula 1 world championship at the end of the 2009 season,” said a Toyota statement.

“TMC, which had viewed its participation in F1 as contributing to the prosperity of automotive culture, remained dedicated to competing at the pinnacle of motor sports even in the face of the abrupt economic changes that started last year.

“However, when considering TMC’s motorsports actitives next year and beyond from a comprehensive mid-term viewpoint reflecting the current severe economic realities, TMC decided to withdraw from F1”

The team’s Formula One future had been widely doubted since Honda withdrew at the end of last season. Toyota originally entered the sport in 2002 to compete with its rival, which had returned as an engine supplier two years earlier.

Toyota had also pulled its Fuji Speedway racing circuit, which hosted the 2007 and 2008 Japanese Grands Prix, blaming the worldwide financial problems.

However Toyota did signed a new Concorde Agreement, committing it to the world championship through 2012, and team boss John Howett was adamant that the squad would be on the grid next year although there were hints of a reduced budget.

The team had been pressing ahead with its 2010 preparations including the possibility of signing big name drivers like Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica. There was even talks of signing impressive stand-in Japanese racer Kamui Kobayashi for next year as recently as last weekend.

Toyota’s current drivers, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, had already been expected to move on.

“TMC also wants to express its heartfelt gratitude to all Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers to date and to all Toyota Motorsport GmbH employees who have helped make the team’s achievements possible,” said the statement.

“TMC intends to do its best to find a solution for those parties who will be affected by any inconvenience this decision may cause.”

Toyota entered Formula One in 2002, and was tipped to swiftly become a championship challenger given its massive budget and resources. But the team has yet to win a race and has just three pole positions, 13 podium finishes, and a best result of fourth in the 2005 constructors’ standings to show for its 139 grands prix.

The departure of Toyota is set to throw the former BMW Sauber team a lifeline, as the Hinwil squad and its new owners had been relying on another team dropping out in order to claim the final spot in next season’s expanded 26-car entry.

Toyota added that it would continue to use its Formula One experience in “developing exciting production vehicles” and that it would remain involved in motor racing, albeit at a lower level.

“In motorsports, [Toyota] will not only race in various categories, but will also actively contribute to further development of motorsports by supporting grassroots races and planning events in which it is easy for people to participate.”