Ferrari will become the first team to unveil their 2009 challenger when the F2009 takes to their private test track of Fiorano for the first time next Monday, 12 January 2009. Having narrowly missed out on the drivers' championship at the final round of the 2008 season, Brazil's Felipe Massa will be given the honour of steering the car on its first laps. 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen will have to wait until the first multi-team test to get a taste of the new machine, likely to be in Portimão, Portugal the following week.

Ferrari has been openly struggling with its kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) over the past few months, and it's expected that the F2009 unveiled in Fiorano will run entirely without KERS. Although the team is aiming to have its KERS ready in time for the season-opening Grand Prix in Australia in late March, they have made contingency plans for life without the device and have developed the car to run with or without the unit.

Ferrari become the seventh team to confirm their plans for their car unveilings, with Toyota and McLaren due to follow Ferrari with their own launches the same week, on Thursday and Friday respectively. Renault, Williams and BMW Sauber will launch the following week, while fans will have to wait until early February for Red Bull's unveiling. Toro Rosso and Force India are yet to confirm their launch dates, while Honda's future still hangs in the balance.