Ferrari said in a statement on Thursday that the car will now be  shown off on their website only, along with interviews with drivers  and officials.

Ferrari said they had no choice but to cancel the presentation at their Maranello headquarters because heavy snowfall was forecast  to continue and temperatures to drop further.

“The decision has been taken to cancel the presentation ceremony  for the new car,” Ferrari said.

“The decision was taken because of the weather conditions and because of the difficulties that would have faced the 300 or so people due to attend from the team partners, the authorities and representatives of the media in their attempts to get to Maranello.

“Photographs and all technical information relating to the car, along with exclusive interviews, will be available to all on www.ferrarif1.com.”   

Like other European countries, Italy has been affected by chilly  temperatures and heavy snowfall. Several top flight football games were postponed in midweek.

Ferrari were due to be the second big F1 team to unveil the new car for Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, following McLaren, who presented their latest model on Wednesday in England. World champions Red Bull are set to launch their 2012 car on Monday.

Pre-season testing starts next week in Jerez, Spain, and the first season race is on March 18 in Australia. Ferrari have not won  the world title since Kimi Raikkonen’s success in 2007.