Alonso Wins Malaysian Grand Prix

After a rather disappointing qualifying session, Fernando Alonso has managed to win the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix. It was a victory that not even the most passionate Ferrari fans believed in, since we all know that the Italian team hasn’t got a very good car this year, but even so the Spaniard managed to grab the victory today, keeping Sergio Perez from Sauber behind him.

Perez was undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the race, finishing in second place behind Alonso. He could have won at Sepang today but he made a minor error in the last part of the race when he was only at a second distance from Alonso. Up until then he had a great race, working his way up to the second place and getting closer and closer to Alonso. He had to settle for the second place although he was so close to win the race, a win that Sauber really needed since the last time they won was back in 2008 when Robert Kubica was the first to cross the finish line at the Canadian GP.

This second place obtained by Perez was a real surprise, a result obtained with a Sauber car that is powered by a Ferrari engine. Most likely, thanks to this result Perez will probably become a Ferrari driver next year, replacing Massa who has an awful start of the season, not managing to grab at least one point. Rumors are saying that he will leave Ferrari at the end of the season and most likely Perez will replace him.

Anyway, getting back to the race, there was a lot of rain at the beginning of it which lead to many changes. All cars started the race with intermediate tires but only after a few laps they switched to rain tires. After this, the safety car was deployed due to the reason that the rain got even more intense, leading to the interruption of the race for about an hour.

The two pilots who benefited the most from this were none other than Alonso and Perez who grabbed the first and second place of the race. They managed to do this after McLaren had some bad luck as Hamilton lost precious time when changing the tires, while his teammate Button had an incident with the HRT car driven by Karthikeyan. Button had to do a pit stop in order to change the nose of his car, losing lots of positions on the grid.

Hamilton managed to secure the third place, just like he did last week at the Australian GP. The drivers behind him were Vettel, Raikkonen and Webber, but Lewis had no problems maintaining his position. At the end of the race, on fourth came Webber, while in fifth place finished Raikkonen. Behind him came Bruno Senna from Williams while his teammate Maldonado was extremely close to finish in 10^th place but in the last lap he had an engine failure and he abandoned the race.

The current world champion Sebastian Vettel did not win any points today after he had a flat tire, while Force India had a very good race, grabbing the 7^th and 9^th position with Di Resta and Hulkenberg. Between them finished Vergne from Torro Rosso, while on the 10^th place came seven times world champion and veteran Michael Schumacher from Mercedes AMG. Schumi was again unlucky because in the first lap he had a collision with Romain Grosjean. He lost a lot of positions, ending up on the 15^th spot but later on he managed to grab the 10^th place at the end of the race.

These are the full results of the 2012 Malaysian GP:

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIRE
1.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	56	2h44m51.812
2.	Sergio Perez	Mexico	Sauber-Ferrari	56	2.263
3.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	56	14.591
4.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	56	17.688
5.	Kimi Raikkonen	Finland	Lotus-Renault	56	29.456
6.	Bruno Senna	Brazil	Williams-Renault	56	37.667
7.	Paul di Resta	Britain	Force India-Mercedes	56	44.412
8.	Jean-Eric Vergne	France	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	46.985
9.	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	56	47.892
10.	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	56	49.996
11.	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	56	1m15.527
12.	Daniel Ricciardo	Australia	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	1m16.828
13.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	56	1m18.593
14.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	56	1m19.719
15.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	56	1m37.319
16.	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Caterham-Renault	55	1 Lap
17.	Timo Glock	Germany	Marussia-Cosworth	55	1 Lap
18.	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Caterham-Renault	55	1 Lap
19.	Pastor Moldonado	Venezuela	Williams-Renault	54	Engine
20.	Charles Pic	France	Marussia-Cosworth	54	2 Laps
21.	Narain Karthikeyan	India	HRT-Cosworth	54	2 Laps
22.	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	HRT-Cosworth	54	2 Laps
R	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	Sauber-Ferrari	46
R	Romain Grosjean	France	Lotus-Renault	3	Spin

And here are the drivers’ standings after two races so far:

In the constructors’ championship, the standings are:

The third race of the season will be on April 15th when F1 will go to China for the 2012 UBS Chinese Grand Prix.

Post tags: Tags: alonso, f1, fernando alonso, Ferrari, formula-1, sepang

Star of the Geneva show – Ferrari F12 Berlinetta

Without any doubt, the most popular and interesting car of this year’s edition of the Geneva Motor Show is the all-new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, a car for which about 360 people made a deposit before it was officially unveiled at the event in Switzerland. This number comes from Amedeo Felisa who is the company’s CEO.

Before the car went live in Geneva it was shown during an event for customer previews which lasted about a week. During this time, about 450 people had the possibility to see the car and 80% of them decided to put an order on the F12 Berlinetta, according to Felisa.

The new F12 Berlinetta is the most powerful road car that Ferrari has ever made as it is powered by an impressive V12 6.3-liter engine that pumps out no less than 730 hp. Even though many people though that V12 engines will soon be discontinued, it seems that Ferrari doesn’t think this way and for the successor of the Enzo which is scheduled to come out towards the end of this year, another V12 engine will be used.

Thanks to this powerful engine, the F12 Berlinetta is capable of doing the 0-62 mph sprint in only 3.1 seconds while to get to 124 mph from start it needs 8.5 seconds. That V12 engine has a maximum torque of 509 lb.-ft and 80% of that torque is available at just 2500 rpm. This V12 normally-aspirated engine revs up to an impressive 8700 rpm.

The successor of the 599 was initially supposed to be called the 620GT but this new name that it got reminds of some classic cars Ferrari has made in its glorious history, like the 250 GT Berlinetta. The Italian automaker has said that the car managed to do a lap of the company’s Fiorano test track in 1 minute and 23 seconds, making it the fastest Ferrari that was on that circuit. The company says that the F12 Berlinetta is capable of reaching a top speed of more than 211 mph.

This V12 engine offers 116 hp / liter and it is based on the power unit found in the FF, a 6262cc 65-degree V12 unit. However, the new iteration of this engine is 80 hp and 5 lb.-ft more powerful than what the FF has to offer and it’s also more powerful than the 599 model it replaces in the company’s lineup.

Even though this new V12 engine is considerably more powerful, Ferrari’s engineers have managed to lower not only the fuel consumption levels but also the emissions of CO2. While the 599 offer 15.8 mpg UK in the combined cycle, the new F12 Berlinetta can return 18.8 mpg. In addition, the 415 g/km CO2 emissions of the 599 have been reduced to 350 g/km in the new model. These figures are available if the car is fitted with the stop/start system which is an optional feature.

Ferrari’s new model is 4618 mm long, 1273 mm high and 1942 mm wide, making it 47 mm shorter, 63 mm lower and 20 mm narrower than the outgoing 599. In addition, compared to its predecessor, the wheelbase is now 30 mm shorter, measuring 2720 mm.

The most important modifications can be found at the back where the dual clutch F1-style gearbox and the rear suspension have been repacked in order to lower the volume at the rear. In addition, the dashboard, seats and engine have been lowered, managing to offer a lower center of gravity in comparison to the previous 599 model. The outgoing model had a weight distribution of 47/53 while the F12 Berlinetta sports an “ideal” weight distribution of 46/54 front/rear.

The car has an aluminum spaceframe chassis and bodyshell which have been developed especially for the new model, boasting 12 different types of alloys. The Italian carmaker has said that compared to the 599, the new F12 Berlinetta offers a 20% structural increase and weighs 70kg less than the previous model, with a curb weight of 1525 kg.

The downforce is now 76% greater over the 599 while the drag coefficient stands at just 0.299. To achieve these more than impressive figures, the Italians implemented the Aero Bridge system which is capable of channeling air from the side hood air intakes via the wheel arches and after that it spits the air out via the car’s sculpted deep swage lines located in the F12’s side doors, managing to improve the control of turbulent airflow and also reduce the drag. Aside from this, the car also has Active Brake Cooling that will open the brake cooling ducts only when the temperature of the carbon ceramic brakes is high enough.

As you would expect, the all-new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta comes with a bunch of electronic aids to help the driver, including the company’s own E-Diff, F1-Trac, ESP Premium and a high-performance ABS system. Aside from these, the car also comes with the SCM-E magnetorheological suspension system, and Ferrari says that they were also able to lower the car’s steering angles.

By making the space behind the two seats accessible from the car’s hinged glass tailgate, Ferrari said that the capacity of the rear luggage has been increased but they didn’t mention an exact volume. The dashboard of the F12 Berlinetta has a lightweight construction while the interior is wrapped around in Frau leather. There are also lashings of aluminum and carbon fiber trim, along with an aeronautic field-inspired design of the air vents.

If there is something that we don’t like about the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta is that Human Machine Interface which we’ve already seen on the FF and the 458, which is an interior control system that puts most of the major controls on the steering wheel making it look too crowded and difficult to access.

No word at the moment about the price tag of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta but most likely it will cost more than 250,000 pounds. The right-handed units will arrive in the United Kingdom in the beginning of next year. We’ll let you know when Ferrari will publish the price list for the new model and also details about the car’s availability.

Source: Ferrari via Autocar

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari f12 berlinetta, geneva-motor-show, motor shows

2013 Ferrari California arrives at Geneva Motor Show

Ferrari brought to Geneva this year the facelift for the California model which comes with a bunch of updates. The most important change is in the engine department where the V8 4.3-liter engine has gained an extra 30 hp for a grand total of 483 hp (490 PS / 360 kW) and a peak torque of 372 lb.-ft (505 Nm).

The 2013 Ferrari California has also received several updates to its chassis which have managed to lower the curb weight of the car by 66 lbs (30 kg) thanks to the implementation of edge aluminum fabrication techniques. The car can now be fitted with a Handling Speciale package that includes a quicker steering ratio, stiffer springs, as well as better magnetorheological dampers. All of these updates allow the car to do the 0-62 mph sprint in 3.8 seconds.

Source: Ferrari via WCF

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari california

Ferrari posted record results last year

Even though Europe is having a lot of economical and financial problems at the moment, this hasn’t stop Ferrari post record results last year, thanks to the fact that there was an increase in demand from China, UK, Germany and the United States.

The Italian automaker recorded revenues of 2,251 billion Euros (approximately $2.96 billion), which is a 17.3% increase in comparison to 2010. Last year was the first time in the company’s history when they managed to exceed the 2 billion Euros mark in revenue. The net profit also gone up from 2010 to $209 million Euros.

Last year, Ferrari managed to sell 7,195 cars while 1,958 of these cars reached the US market, a company record. Even though the United States has remained Ferrari’s main market, the company is enjoying a growth in the Chinese market of almost 63%, managing to sell there no less than 777 cars. In Germany they delivered 705 cars which is 14.6% more than in 2011, while in UK they sold 574 units, which is 23% more than the year before.

Ferrari also saw a 25% increase in the online store while the traffic on the company’s official website grew by 30%. In addition, the automaker’s Museum in Maranello booked more than 240,000 visitors (60% of them from outside of Italy), another record for the firm.

Next month in Geneva, Ferrari will be unveiling the successor for the 599 model which will be powered by a massive V12 engine and promises to bring “unprecedented power output” which will offer “extreme performance”.

Source: Ferrari

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari 599

Ferrari FF burning in Shanghai

Yet another Ferrari has burned down, this time an FF model that was driving in Shi Bo Avenue in Shanghai, China. The good news is that nobody was injured thanks to the fact that the local emergency services arrived right away and extinguished the fire.

According to some people, the reason why this happened is because the Ferrari FF was driving at low speeds for a longer period of time which caused the materials to overheat and eventually catch fire. This might be true taking into consideration that the smoke is not coming from the engine as it is concentrated under the vehicle’s cabin.

Source: China Car Times

Post tags: Tags: burning ferrari, burning ferrari ff, china, Ferrari, ferrari ff, shanghai

2013 Ferrari California heading to Geneva

The Italian automaker Ferrari has announced that the upcoming 2013 California will make its debut next month during the Geneva Motor Show. Don’t expect to see a significant update because the car has suffered only a modest revision.

One of the most important modifications would have to be the update for the V8 4.3-liter engine that is now capable of developing 483 hp (490 PS) and 372 lb.-ft (505 Nm) of torque. This means that the new model is 30 hp (30 PS / 22 kW) and 15 lb.-ft (20 Nm) more powerful than the outgoing model. Thanks to this power upgrade, the 2013 California is able to do the 0-62 mph sprint in 3.8 seconds.

Aside from the power boost, the car also benefits from an upgraded chassis which Ferrari says that it incorporates “cutting-edge aluminum fabrication techniques”. No word about specific details regarding this technique but what we can tell you is that the 2013 California weighs 66 lbs (30 kg) less than the model it replaces.

The updated convertible is going to be available with a Handling Speciale package which brings a quicker steering ratio, stiffer springs, as well as better magnetorheological dampers.

Source: Ferrari via WCF

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari california

Ferrari 250 GTO grabs $32.1 million at an auction

One of the most expensive cars ever sold is a Ferrari 250 GTO that managed to fetch no less than $32.1 million (20.2 million pounds) at an auction. We don’t have any details about who made this astonishing purchase but according to various reports, the seller of this very rare care is a British businessman by the name of Jon Hunt who acquired the car back in 2008 for “only” 15,700,000 pounds, meaning that in just three years he has made a profit of 4.5 million pounds.

The Italian automaker Ferrari only made 39 units of the 250 GTO between the years 1962 and 1964. The one that was sold at the auction is wearing the chassis number 5095 and it’s powered by a V12 3.0-liter engine that generates 300 hp (304 PS / 224 kW), allowing the vehicle to do the 0-62 mph sprint in 6.1 seconds, on its way to a maximum speed of 174 mph.

If you were thinking that this is the largest amount of money ever paid for a car you’d be probably wrong because it is believed that a Bugatti 57SC from 1936 was sold for $30-40 million two years ago, although nothing is certain.

Source: Topgear

Post tags: Tags: auction, Ferrari, ferrari 250 gto

Ferrari-themed Jeep Grand Cherokee for Alonso and Massa revealed

If you were wondering why Jeep created these two Ferrari-themed Grand Cherokees for Alonso and Massa it’s because the company is owned by Fiat. Anyway, these two SRT8 Grand Cherokees are wearing a Rosso Corsa exterior finish that comes with gloss black accents, an Italian flag painted on the underside of the rear spoiler and also carbon fiber mirrors.

Both cars have a reduced ride height which has been lowered by 1.5 inches and they ride on bespoke 20-inch alloys. Inside the cabin there’s a Ferrari red leather upholstery, a unique steering wheel that has red contrasting stitching and an updated instrument cluster that has yellow dials.

Under the hood is a powerful HEMI V8 6.4-liter engine that pumps out 462 hp (468 PS / 344 kW) and a maximum torque of 460 lb.-ft (624 Nm) which is enough to allow the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 to reach a maximum speed of 160 mph (257 km/h).

Source: Jeep via WCF

Post tags: Tags: felipe-massa, fernando alonso, Ferrari, Fiat, grand cherokee srt8, Jeep, jeep grand cherokee

1991 Ferrari F40 previously owned by Lee Iacocca up for auction

A Ferrari F40 Berlinetta from 1991 that was once owned by auto legend Lee Iacocca will be auctioned this Friday in Phoenix, Arizona where it is expected to fetch somewhere between $650,000 and $750,000.

RM Auctions said that the documents of the car include an engraved “ built especially for Lee Iacocca”  card as well as “one piece of personal correspondence” that has not been identified. This Ferrari was originally owned by Iacocca and it has been driven for less than 300 miles. RM Auctions added that this is the 94^th F40 of the 213 U.S.-spec units.

Developed to celebrate the company’s 40^th anniversary, the Ferrari F40 is motivated by a massive twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted V8 2.9-liter engine that generates 471 hp.

Source: RM Auctions via Inside Line

Post tags: Tags: auctions, Ferrari, ferrari f40, lee iacocca

Best gas station in the world?

There isn’t anything special that you could say about a regular gas station, mostly because all of them are the same. However, the exception would have to be this one which is strategically located less than 100 meters away from the paddock of the famous Monza circuit. When the racetrack is open, this would have to be the best gas station in the world where you have the possibility to admire all sorts of supercars that come to fill their tanks.

As you can see from this video, on the day of the recording there were a lot of Ferraris waiting in line for a refill. These are the cars captured by the camera: Ferrari 599 GTO / GTB / HGTE, Ferrari 458 Italia, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Ferrari F430 Coupe / Spider, Ferrari 360 Modena and a Ferrari California.

Source: YouTube

Post tags: Tags: entertainment, Ferrari, gas station, Video

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano barbecued in Dubai

We have another story for you today about the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano but this time it isn’t good. A couple in Dubai recorded the following video of a 599 which was slowly burning in the middle of the road. It is almost unbelievable that nobody has a reaction to this incident and all of the drivers on the road continue their way as if nothing’s wrong.

We don’t know how the incident occurred but let’s hope that the driver managed to get away before the fire started.

Post tags: Tags: entertainment, Ferrari, fire

Ferrari announces 599 GTB 60F1

Ferrari 599 GTB 60F1

The Italian automaker Ferrari has decided to celebrate 60^th since the first Formula 1 victory by launching a special edition of the 599 GTB Fiorano, dubbed as the 60F1. The car is based on the 599 model with the HGTE package and it is going to be available in three different liveries that mimic the cars drive by the winner of the 1951 British GP who was Froilan Gonzalez, and Ferrari’s current F1 driver Fernando Alonso.

Aside from wearing a special paint, this special edition of the 599 GTB will feature an aluminum fuel cover, Scuderia Ferrari shields and 20-inch alloys. Inside the cabin, we find Alcantara upholstery, a commemorative plaque that has the signatures of Gonzalez and Alonso, along with an Altutex trim and Recaro seats.

Source: Ferrari via Motor Authority

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari 599, ferrari 599 gtb, ferrari 599 gtb 60f1, special editions

Ferrari 599XX gets Evoluzione package

One of the most exclusive cars ever made, the Ferrari 599FX, has recently received an Evoluzione package that increases the output of the engine by 30 hp for a grand total of 740 hp, while the maxim torque figure is also raised to 516 lb.-ft thanks to the installation of new, freer-flowing side-exhausts.

This Evoluzione package is available for those 29 clients that had 1.2 million pounds to buy the car and it brings “opening gap” aerodynamics on the rear wing. It has a pair of flaps that open & close in order to adjust the front-aft downforce which balances the handling during high speed cornering.  These flaps are linked to the engine management system and they open and close according to the steering wheel angle, speed and front/side acceleration.

The downforce was improved considerably thanks to a revised front splitter and the installation of a new rear diffuser that has more surface area. The foot-plates and the fences have also been redesigned for this purpose. According to the Italian automaker, the 599XX fitted with the Evoluzione package gains 440kg of downforce at 124 mph while the flaps are shut and 300kg when they are open.

The price for this package is expected to be of somewhere around 185,000 Euros (about 158,000 pounds).

Source: Ferrari via Autocar | Photos: WCF

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari 599, ferrari 599xx, ferrari 599xx evo

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano By Anderson Germany

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano by Anderson Germany

If you thought that there is no room for improvement for the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, think again. Anderson Germany decided to play a little bit with this exotic Italian supercar again, after the first tuning program that they launched back in March this year. This new black-widow style 599 features an interior cabin that has quilted red leather as well as black carbon leather with red stitching.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano by Anderson Germany

To reduce the car’s weight, the tuner installed carbon fiber door handles, gearshift, center console and door sill. How much weight did they manage to shave off? We don’t know but probably not a lot.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano by Anderson Germany

On the outside, this tuned 599 GTB Fiorano is wearing a black paint with red stripes that are running over the top of the vehicle. It also comes with a new aero kit which is manufactured from carbon fiber, along with a new set of red brake calipers and 21-inch glossy black alloys that have a red trim.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano by Anderson Germany

We almost forgot to mention that Anderson Germany also remapped the V12’s ECU software and installed a custom sports exhaust system, increasing the output of the engine to 674 hp, enough for a 0-62 mph sprint in about three seconds.

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano by Anderson Germany

Source: Anderson Germany via Carscoop

Post tags: Tags: anderson germany, Ferrari, ferrari 599, ferrari 599 gtb fiorano, Tuning

Ferrari 599 replacement spied

The car you see in these spy shots is believed to be the highly anticipated 599 replacement that promises to be the most powerful road car that Ferrari has ever launched. Taking into consideration that the FF model produces 651 hp, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the new model that will replace the 599 will offer more than 700 ponies. As a reminder, the current 599 GTB offers 612 hp.

The new car will be motivated by a next generation of the 6.3-liter V12 direct-injection engine that powers the FF, which is an engine that is based on the original 599/Enzo unit and capable of unleashing 850 hp in the very rare FXX Evoluzione. The company’s new flagship model will also benefit from breakthrough structural & detailed engineering design in order to make sure that it will be lighter than the model it replaces. This process of going on a diet has begun with the FF as even though it has an AWD configuration, the car has just about the same weight as the 612 Scaglietti.

The implementation of weight saving techniques will be possible through the automaker’s alloy monocoque body, even though car manufacturers like McLaren and Lamborghini have developed carbon fiber monocoque bodies for their recent models. According to the Italian carmaker, carbon fiber is not suitable at the moment for the volume of production necessary for the new model.

According to various rumors, the new car that will replace the 599 will feature a RWD layout as Ferrari believes that the AWD configuration is “best suited to our grand touring cars”, a category in which the 599 is not part of.

Source: Autocar

Post tags: Tags: Ferrari, ferrari 599, ferrari 599 replacement, Spy Shots