26 Jan 2014

Alonso sees parallels in the past at Ferrari launch

5:52 am on 26 January 2014

Ferrari have unveiled their eye-catching 2014 Formula One car with Fernando Alonso hoping a fifth season with the team will be as good for him as it was for Michael Schumacher 14 years ago.

The F14 T car, its name chosen in a vote of more than a million fans, was launched on the team website ahead of pre-season testing that starts in Jerez, southern Spain, next week.

Its 'broken' nose, with a pronounced hump in the middle section before drooping wide and low, offered a different solution to rival offerings seen so far - more dolphin than anteater.

If far from the most beautiful car produced by the most glamorous of teams, it need only be a winner to be loved after a difficult 2013 for Ferrari.

Alonso felt the omens were good.

Schumacher, in the thoughts of everyone at Ferrari as he lies in a coma in a French hospital after a skiing accident, had to wait until his fifth year at Ferrari before he could win his third title.

The German went on to win five in a row and become a seven-times champion.