Ferrari today made it clear nothing less than championship glory will suffice this season if they are to erase the pain of last year's heartache.

That was the message that emerged from Ferrari's launch of their new car, the F150, named as a tribute to the fact this year is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

Team-mates Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were on hand to pull the red silk wrap from the chassis of the challenger at Ferrari's headquarters in Maranello.

And from the words of all concerned, it is clear the errors made in the final race of last year in Abu Dhabi when Alonso missed out on the drivers' title have not been easily forgotten.

"It's always very thrilling, very moving, to be full of hopes when you look at cars like this," said president Luca di Montezemolo.

"I remember when I was a young assistant to Enzo Ferrari we used to sigh and say 'nice car, beautiful car' but it's very important the car functions well, that it wins races.

"We've two drivers who do not want to lose a championship in the very last race, as Felipe did in 2008, and again last year with Fernando.

"But we cannot think about that, so this year we have to win and we will do our best to win, and we will be working with great passion, great motivation."

Alonso went into the final race of last year leading the standings, but an early pit stop proved costly, and instead it was Sebastian Vettel who claimed the title, becoming the youngest champion in F1 history.

That resulted in Chris Dyer, heavily blamed by the Italian media for the strategic gaffe, losing his position as head of racetrack engineering earlier this year, a role since taken up by another Englishman in Pat Fry.

Alonso, believing himself to be more firmly integrated into a team he joined over a year ago, feels Ferrari will deliver this season.

"I'm really motivated, really excited," said Alonso.

"Last year was an incredible one for me. I discovered a wonderful team, one that was really passionate for a new driver.

"This car is the fruit of many months of hard work from the people at Ferrari.

"Now we have to commit completely to what we do and we are ready, we are up for the challenge."

Team principal Stefano Domenicali knows how agonising last season's failure proved to be, but he claims that "the shout we had in our throats in Abu Dhabi will be liberated."

Domenicali added: "The F150 was created with a very simple aim, and it is so simple I don't want to say it. We only have to achieve it.

"We are starting from a season where we had difficult moments, but we also experienced some beautiful moments, and we want to work on and build from these.

"Our team is motivated and has been renewed. We've had some organisational changes, new people have come in, and that is in the logic of continuous improvement."

Asked if he felt obliged to win this year, Domenicali said: "It's not about obligations, but it's about objectives, and I'd say this is my and the whole team's objective.

"Our two drivers are a good team, a wonderful team, and they want to prove their value.

"We really want to be successful, and we are motivated even more strongly than we have been in the past."

For Massa, it is a case of putting an entire year behind him, not just one race as his performances markedly plummeted in the wake of the team orders furore in Germany when he was forced to cede the win to Alonso.

Asked if he felt any pressure after his disappointing 2010, Massa added: "You always feel pressure when you race for Ferrari, but especially for me because last year was a difficult one.

"It's always important to feel excited to start a new year, and so I would like to start it profitably with positive results, and I'm confident I will do this with our team and our new car."