This morning Ferrari launched the first new Formula 1 car of the season. Most teams will follow suit in the coming days ahead of this year's first official test session scheduled for Monday. The new Ferrari F10 is much more than a subtle evolution of the disappointing F60 used in 2009. Gone is the KERS system that made the F60 such a difficult car to drive. In its place comes a much larger fuel tank, which is vital now that refueling is banned. Apart from the changes in livery, the biggest visual change is the more sculpted nose that has hints of last year's Red Bull car. The revised livery comes courtesy of new sponsor Banco Santander, which added a welcome white touch to the predominantly red livery. New to the team for this year is two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, who will replace Kimi Raikonen. The Spaniard will race the F10 together with Felipe Massa, who has completely recovered from the horrific accident at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Alonso's addition to the driver line-up made us look twenty years back in time when Ferrari managed to lure reigning World Champion Alain Prost from McLaren. He joined Nigel Mansell to create one of Ferrari's finest line-ups in their history. That season the Italian team fielded the 641 F1 or F1-90. This startlingly beautiful machine was a gradual development of the revolutionary 640 F1 introduced a year earlier. It featured a glorious 3.5 litre V12 engine with five valves per cylinder and the sport's first paddle-operated gearbox with seven forward speeds. After a difficult start, Prost and the 641 F1 came to their own halfway through the season and gradually closed to gap to Ayrton Senna. Despite five victories, the Frenchman eventually had to settle for second in the standings. The rest of the field quickly followed Ferrari's pioneering example and soon all cars were equipped with the 'flappy-paddle' system. Today it is a common sight on many high performance road cars.
Our 641 F1 article features detailed pictures of two examples. One of the chassis was gifted to Frank Williams in exchange for the services of driver Jean Alesi for the 1991 season.

Enjoy the links:

2010 Ferrari F10 - Images, Specifications and Information

1990 Ferrari 641 F1 - Images, Specifications and Information