Ferrari engineers admit their Formula One car for the 2012 season won’t win any prizes for beauty but they hope it will have the speed to break the dominance of Red Bull.

The Italian team, which usually prides itself on style, conceded that several major changes included an ugly nose, partly brought about by new F1 rules on the front-section chassis height.

“The nose has a step in it that is not aesthetically pleasing: with the requirement from the regulations to lower the front part, this was a way of raising the bottom part of the chassis as much as possible for aerodynamic reasons,” the team said.

Snow forced Ferrari to cancel a live launch at their headquarters in Maranello, with the presentation taking place via the internet.

Ferrari believes the F2012 car will provide drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa the means to compete with main rivals Red Bull, who launch their 2012 car on Monday, and McLaren.

The team was a disappointing third behind Red Bull and second-placed McLaren last year.

Alonso said the F2012 was “very different” from the model of the past two seasons, while Massa said the car looked “really aggressive.”

“Practically every area of the car has been fundamentally revised, starting with the suspension layout: both the front and rear feature pull-rods, aimed at favouring aerodynamic performance and lowering the centre of gravity, ” Ferrari said.

Further evolutions are planned in the front wing area while the car is due to undergo a very intensive development program over the first part of the season, especially the aerodynamics.

Testing begins in Jerez, Spain next week, with the first race in Melbourne on March 18.

The Force India team also unveiled its 2012 car at a presentation in Silverstone, England.