Ferrari Will Unveil 2013 Car on February 1

FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
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has announced that it will unveil its 2013 Formula 1 car on February 1, which will make it the first F1 team to show its new car for next season. The announcement came at Ferrari's International Ski Meeting where the F1 team was given the opportunity to relax and give interviews to media. 

Due to the few changes to the rules for 2013, we are not expecting many major changes to the 2013 car compared to 2012. There is a possibility that the car will no longer have the stepped platypus nose from last season. 

Other news to come out of the event includes that Pedro de la Rosa will be a test driver for Ferrari next season. He most recently raced for HRTHispania Racing TeamSpain, 2009 > present1 model
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, which will not be a team in F1 next season. 

“We decided to add De La Rosa to our group of drivers mainly to strengthen one area, namely work in the simulator, which with the current regulations regarding testing, is becoming ever more important,” said Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. 

Ferrari may have a difficult season in 2013. The team had so many problems with their wind tunnel that it is being completely rebuilt so that the team can do full scale model testing. The new wind tunnel will not be completed until the F1 summer break, and until then Ferrari is using the ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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Motorsport GmbH wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany, to develop parts. 

"The rules are continuing more or less the same as last year in terms of aerodynamics. In the 2012 winter we changed completely the exhaust position compared to 2011, and it was a little bit of a guess what we found on the car.

"But this year everything should be much more normal and we are much more confident," said Fernando Alonso.

Alonso gave the example from last season when it developed a wing that made the car two-tenths faster according to the scale model in the wind tunnel. When it put the full-scale wing on the car, it made the car slower. 

To further weaken the team, it has split its engine development team in half. One team is working on the engine for the 2013 season, and the other team is working on the new 2014 turbocharged V6 engine. 

Finally, of course, there are the drivers. Alonso was able to take second in the World Drivers' Championship last year in a car that consistently qualified poorly. Felipe Massa struggled for most of the season before finally finding his footing towards the end.

"I want to be competitive from the start to the end, I want to return to winning and also hope to be able to fight for the championship.

"I have done this in the past, I have not forgotten this," said Massa.

"We must be focused on driving and both Felipe [Massa] and myself, we are sure more than in the past that this can be a bit better, both in terms of wind tunnel results and in terms of innovation," said Alonso.

Source Autosport (1,2)