(CNN) -- Ferrari's hopes of a first world title since 2008 were effectively blown away before this season even started when the legendary Formula One team admitted the 2012 car was not up to speed.
Fernando Alonso shocked motorsport experts by winning the rain-hit Malaysia race in March, but otherwise it has been an uphill battle for the two-time world champion and his Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa.
However, improvements made during this week's test sessions at the Italian marque's Maranello headquarters have given the Spaniard encouragement that he might be more competitive in front of his home fans in the next race at Barcelona next weekend.
"The feeling I have after the test is a positive one," the 30-year-old said on the Ferrari website.
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Ferrari unveiled the F2012 Friday, their car for the forthcoming Formula One season. The Italian team had planned to reveal the car Thursday, but heavy snowfall around the team's factory forced a postponement.
Ferrari unveil F2012
Michael Schumacher in the modern Silver Arrow while Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg takes the wheel of the 1955 model.
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"We have introduced a few small -- and I stress that word -- aerodynamic updates that have produced the response we were expecting and that is the most positive news, which means I am confident for the future, in the short and the long term.
"It means that what we see in the factory in Maranello has now also been confirmed on track. Furthermore, we have worked on other areas, especially the tires, doing short and long runs, on setup and also on starts, given we were also trying out a new clutch."
Alonso finished seventh at the last grand prix in Bahrain, but this week his times have been marginally slower than that of race winner and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel and Lotus' Romain Grosjean, who earned his first podium in the Middle East event.
Alonso, winner of the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix winner, did go off-track during testing, damaging his car's nose and losing two and a half hours of track time as the crew fixed it.
But he appeared unconcerned with the mishap, saying with a touch of irony: "I want to put everyone's mind at rest, my family and friends: I'm fine, no harm done after hitting the crash barrier at 7 km an hour."
Alonso is fifth in the drivers' championship, 10 points behind Vettel, but remains pragmatic about the importance of the May 13 race.
"Barcelona will be a key moment in the season, but not a decisive one. It's not a case that we will suddenly find ourselves back on pole position, because there is no magic button," he said.
"Certainly, I am not denying that next weekend's event is a significant one -- we cannot allow ourselves to struggle to get into Q3 if we want to fight for the title."
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The most striking aspect of the car's design is the new steeped-nose feature. The change has been made to conform to new regulations regarding the height of the front chassis.
The engine Spanish driver Fernando Alonso hopes will power him to a third world championship triumph. Alonso won just one race in 2011 and finished 135 points behind Red Bull's title winner Sebastian Vettel.
Brazil's Felipe Massa has praised the aggression of the new car and described it as part of his dreams. Massa will hope the newly-designed steering wheel can guide him to greater success in 2012, after finishing last season sixth.
Silverstone-based Force India also unveiled their new VJM05 car at the historic British circuit on Friday.
The Indian-owned team will hope to build on last season's respectable sixth-place finish. Force India will be counting on the skills of drivers Paul di Resta of Britain and Germany's Nico Hulkenberg.
China Grand Prix champion Nico Rosberg is the first Mercedes driver to win a Formula One race since Juan Manuel Fangio in Italy in 1955.
The two Germans will return home this weekend and help launch the new season of the DTM touring car series at Hockenheim.
Fangio, pictured in second place, races the original Silver Arrow at the Buenos Aires track in 1955. The Argentine didn't disappoint his home crowd, later taking the title.
Fangio is mobbed by fans after winning the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. The racing legend had 24 wins and five world championships in a career spanning almost 20 years.
Fangio and Schumacher are the only drivers to have won three successive world championships, a feat Sebastain Vettel is hoping to match this year.
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