The Scuderia strengthens its position with Hublot, Kaspersky and TNT
Domenicali: “A significant achievement”
Posted: 31.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Weichai Power, new sponsor of the Scuderia
Posted: 31.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
To be called….F138
Posted: 30.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 30 January – The new Ferrari Formula 1 car which is being launched the day after tomorrow in a marquee inside the Maranello facility, will be called F138. The name of the fifty ninth car built by Ferrari to compete at the highest level of motor sport derives from a combination of the current year and the number of cylinders, partly to mark the fact that this will be the last year that the V8 engine configuration will be used in Formula 1, bringing to an end what will be an eight year career. With its fifty eight previous cars, the Scuderia is the only team to have taken part in every year of the championship and holds all the records in terms of titles won (31: 15 Drivers’ and 16 Constructors’,) Grand Prix wins (219,) pole positions (207) and fastest race laps (228.)
De la Rosa’s “premier” as a Ferrari man
Posted: 28.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Madrid, 28 January – Today was Pedro de la Rosa’s first appearance as a Ferrari man, when, along with the head of the FDA, Luca Baldisserri, he attended the fourth edition of the “Beca Santander Jovenes Promesas” ceremony, organised by one of Scuderia Ferrari’s most important sponsors. With a broad smile on his face and a Ferrari fleece on his back, the Spaniard dealt with questions from the press at the event, who were very interested in his first impressions of his new role. “I am proud and very happy, mainly because Ferrari is more than just a Formula 1 team,” said Pedro. “I’m starting a new phase of my life: for a driver it’s important to work with the big teams, especially because you can learn from the best engineers and professionals in this sport. I am proud that Ferrari had faith in me, especially as it means I will be able to help a Spanish champion, in the shape of Fernando Alonso.”
It’s less than two weeks since the announcement, but De la Rosa has already been able to experience the intense pressure that reigns in Maranello. “It’s logical, because it’s a team that is used to winning,” commented the Catalan driver. “In Formula 1, whether it comes from below or from elsewhere, pressure is total, but definitely, I immediately saw that, at Ferrari, winning is the only thing that matters. Every time I go to Maranello there is something to learn and it’s a continual experience. Even if I cannot say much, because I have only known Ferrari for a short time, I can say that, at least once in your life, you have to go to Maranello. I’m not talking about the factory, but rather the city: it’s there that you start to understand the difference between a team like Ferrari and all the others, because you already feel as though you are pretty much within the company. Every restaurant, bar or person on the street has something red: it’s really impressive!
Pedro will make his debut at the wheel of the Prancing Horse’s new car on 8th February at Jerez, when he will take over the wheel from team-mate Felipe Massa, who is driving for the first three days of the session. For De la Rosa this is the best way possible to be of immediate use to the team. “I’ve seen the new car in the factory, as it is being prepared for the first test,” he explained. “I am very happy to be able to test it and honestly I had not expected that. It’s a unique opportunity to begin to understand how the car works and how I can help with the work in the simulator.”
Santander supports the future
Posted: 28.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Madrid, 28 January –The Santander Bank continues its unstinting efforts to promote young Spanish motor sport talent. Today at the group’s Financial City in Madrid, it hosted the fourth Beca Santander Jovenes Promesas awards.
Handing out the prizes to the winners of the various Spanish Karting categories was Pedro de la Rosa, along with fellow jury members Enrique Garcia Candelas, the Managing Director and head of the Santander Bank’s Banca Comercial Espana and Carlos Gracia, the President of the Royal Spanish Motoring Federation. De la Rosa, who was making his first public appearance in his new role as a test driver for Scuderia Ferrari, expressed the pride he felt in wearing the colours of the Maranello team and talked about the values that guided his career as a racing driver, from his early days to his current role. Alongside the Catalan driver, to explain the fundamental aspects of preparation for a driver in the modern age, was Luca Baldisserri, head of the Ferrari Driver Academy, the initiative aimed at helping talented youngsters from around the world, with the aim of preparing them for an eventual future in Formula 1.
Ferrari receives British Government’s Innovation in Engineering Award
Posted: 25.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 25 January – Ferrari has won the prestigious Innovation in Engineering Award during the 6th edition of the UK-Italy Business Awards organised by the British Government.
The Award was presented to Ferrari’s Chief Engineer, Roberto Fedeli at the Milan Stock Exchange in the presence of Michael Fallon, the UK’s Minister for Business and Enterprise, Corrado Passera, Italy’s Minister for Economic Development, Infrastructures and Transport, and Christopher Prentice, the British Ambassador to Italy.
The award was given to Ferrari by the British Government as a formal recognition of the company’s role in the UK as a symbol of Italian excellence in the automotive industry, where it has continuously demonstrated innovation in advanced engineering.
Ferrari Challenge North America – Twenty years at Daytona
Posted: 25.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 25 January – The Ferrari Challenge North America has chosen a very prestigious way of inaugurating its twentieth season, with a support race at the Daytona 24 Hours.
The famous endurance race takes place this weekend and the American track will provide the setting for the first round of the American Ferrari Challenge series, making for a truly exceptional opening event. Throughout the year, as usual, owners of the Marque will be able to try their hand at the wheel on some of the best known circuits in the world. Over twenty Ferraris will fight it out on the technically demanding Daytona International Speedway, ensuring a spectacular show.
The programme for the opening round gets underway today with a first leg at 11.45 and a second one tomorrow, Saturday 26 at 10.00, prior to the start of the 24 Hours which gets underway at 15.30.
A new challenge for Ferrari at Daytona
Posted: 24.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 24 January –This weekend sees the 51st edition of the Daytona 24 Hours, which dates back to 1966, although as far back as 1962, it ran as the Daytona Continental, the first three hour endurance race. It is a legendary event, run over a 5.73 km track using part of the high speed Nascar tri-oval, that features banked curves and a very twisty in-field street section.
This American weekend is significant for Ferrari which has always had close ties to Daytona: the Maranello marque has taken overall victory twice, three over the shorter distance and eight class wins, the most famous coming in 1967, when it took a clean sweep of the podium, with a car that that one year later gave birth to the Ferrari 365 GT4, or as it is better known, “the Daytona.” It is the ancestor to the current 458 Grand AM which was a winner in last year’s American series, in which Ferrari took the Constructors’ title in the car’s debut season.
There are six Ferraris entered in the GT category in this race, which as usual is also the opening round of the Grand AM series, including two AIM Autosport cars, the Number 61 machine run in collaboration with the Canadian dealer, Remo Ferro, in the hands of the trio made up of Giancarlo Fisichella – Max Papis – Toni Vilander – Jeff Segal. Also at the wheel of a Ferrari is one of the stars of Nascar, Clint Bowyer, crewed with Rui Auguas – Robert Kauffman – Michael Waltrip, flying the flag for AF Corse, the only Italian team running in the GT class, while Ed Brown – Mike Hedlund – Scott Sharp – Johannes Van Overbeek will be driving the Extreme Speed Motorsport car. The second car is in the hands of Emil Assentato – Guy Cosmo – Anthony Lazzaro – Nick Longhi – Craig Wilkins from AIM Autosport, previous winners in this marathon event. There are two more cars entered by Scuderia Corse, who first raced in Grand AM last year and these are crewed by Olivier Beretta – Alessandro Balzan – Marco Frezza – Alessandro Pieguidi and Chico Longo – Rafa Matos – Xandinho Negrao – Daniel Serra.
The race gets underway on 26 January and is a major challenge for the Prancing Horse, especially in light of new technical regulations which in the GT class impact on the power output, the tank capacity and the time taken at pit stops. The first 15 minute sprint qualifying session starts on Thursday 24 January at 16.55, then comes a further hour of practice on Friday 25th at 10.30, the final session before the race which starts at 15.30 on Saturday 26. Providing a high class start to the weekend’s activities, the Stars and Stripes Ferrari Challenge is a curtain raiser, giving competitors their now traditional opportunity to race their cars on a historic and thrilling tracks.
Massa to debut new Ferrari
Posted: 24.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 24 January – It will fall to Felipe Massa to give the car that Ferrari will use in this year’s Formula 1 World Championship its track debut. The Brazilian will begin work on development of the new car, starting on 5 February at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit, which hosts the first of three test sessions of four days duration each, to be held in the run-up to the start of the season. Felipe will stay on track until 7 February before handing over to Pedro De La Rosa, who will thus make his debut at the wheel of a Ferrari.
In the meantime and throughout all the first part of February, Fernando Alonso will intensify his physical training, in preparation for a first part of the season which, as usual will be very demanding, both because of the long distances involved between the various Grands Prix and because of the variety of weather conditions encountered from Melbourne to Sakhir, with Sepang and Shanghai in between. Fernando will get behind the wheel of the fourth car of his Ferrari career for the first time on 19 February at Montmelo’s Catalunya circuit. The Spaniard will drive for three days before handing over to team-mate Massa. The final test session, also at Montmelo from 28 February to 3 March will see Felipe and Fernando take turns on track: Thursday and Saturday for the Brazilian, Friday and Sunday for the Spaniard. This means the breakdown of test days for the Ferrari men is as follows: Massa six days, Alonso five and De La Rosa one.
In fact, Pedro is in Maranello today for a seat fitting to fine tune his position in the cockpit of the new car. He has had a series of meetings with the Scuderia engineers to define his programme on the simulator, which will constitute the major part of his role as test driver. This means that his day on track on 8 February will be very important, as it will allow both the team and the driver to work specifically on looking at the correlation between the virtual and the real experience. The work of assembling the new car goes on: yesterday the engine was fired up for the first time.
The Ferrari 458 Spider receives “Best Cabriolet” award from Auto Motor und Sport
Posted: 24.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 24 January 2012 – The readers of the prestigious German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport have crowned the 458 Spider “Best Imported Cabriolet” in the traditional “Best cars” poll.
This is the second time the 458 Spider has won this category, and it’s the 15th time that a convertible Ferrari has received this award, demonstrating the esteem with which the marque is held in Germany. The trophy was presented by Auto Motor und Sport Editor-in-Chief, Ralph Alex, to Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa at the prize-giving ceremony held in Stuttgart today.
The 458 Spider continues the long tradition of Ferrari mid-engined V8 convertibles and is the first mid-engined model to feature a folding hard-top combining performance and style perfectly. The engine powering the car – the remarkable 570 HP, 4.5-litre V8 – has also been in the spotlight, having won the International Engine of the Year award for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012.
Overall the 458 – in both the Italia coupé and the Spider versions – has received over 50 awards worldwide to date and is one of the most recognised and successful models in the history of Ferrari.
For the FDA a challenge that knows no boundaries
Posted: 23.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 23 January – In 2012, with the aim of promoting young motor racing talent on an international level, Maranello’s Ferrari Driver Academy supported the Panam GP Series, a South American championship run over seven rounds, held in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Chile. Handing out the prizes, for this the most important motor sport series in this part of the world, was Luca Baldisserri, the head of the FDA.
Baldisserri flew to Panama last weekend to take part in a conference to launch the 2013 series, along with Jose Abed, the President of the FIA NACAM and World Vice-President of the FIA, where he met the young winners from the series, from Ecuador Sebastian Merchan, the Mexican Gerardo Nieto and, from Costa Rica, Veronica Valverde, the first girl to be selected for an FDA course.
What she can expect in Maranello, along with her two other colleagues is a week of physical and psychological tests at the simulator and at the Fiorano track.
Also supported by the academy is a Winter Series organised by Panamco and Alfonso Toledano, using the Tatuus Formula Abarth single-seaters. The first round takes place in the United States, at Miami’s Homestead circuit over the weekend of 24 February, with a second round at Palm Beach’s Moroso track, again in Florida over the weekend of 3 March. Also taking part in both events will be the latest youngster to come on board at the FDA, Antonio Fuoco. The 2013 Championship will take place on 7 April, again at Homestead.
Massa’s first day back at school in 2013
Posted: 22.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
RM AUCTIONS REALIZES SPECTACULAR $36.4 MILLION AT SINGLE-DAY ARIZONA BILTMORE SALE
Posted: 19.01.2013
Source: RM Auctions
- RM generates more than $36.4 million in sales with 89 percent of all lots sold at its 14th annual Arizona sale
- Single-day sale features selective, handpicked offering of blue-chip automobiles, eclipses 2012 Arizona sale tally by more than 42 percent
- Eight automobiles achieve million-dollar plus results with multiple new auction records set
- Top-seller: 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta ‘Competizione’ sells for record $8,140,000
- RM continues its 2013 auction calendar with the presentation of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum and a return to Amelia Island, Florida
PHOENIX, Arizona (January 19, 2013) – RM Auctions, the world’s largest collector car auction house for investment-quality automobiles, kicked off its 2013 auction season on a strong note yesterday, realizing an impressive $36.4 million in sales* with a strong 89 percent of all lots sold at its single-day Phoenix, Arizona sale.
The engines fire up at Campiglio
Posted: 14.01.2013 – 18.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Madonna di Campiglio, 14 January – Today sees the start of “Wrooom,” the Press Ski Meeting organised by Philip Morris International. Taking place on the slopes of Madonna di Campiglio, this is the twenty third time that it marks the symbolic start of the Formula 1 and MotoGP seasons, against the magnificent backdrop of the Dolomiti mountains, in the Trentino region. As usual, the welcome dinner will take place tonight at the Salone Hofer as the international media are met by the Scuderia Ferrari race drivers along with their colleagues from the Ducati Team. For the Maranello Scuderia the first meeting with the specialist press will take place on Wednesday, as the team principal Stefano Domenicali takes to the stage at the conference centre for a press conference, while on Thursday it will be the turn of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. The Brazilian has taken part in this event countless times, while it will be Alonso’s fourth appearance and joining them will be Marc Gené, the Spaniard who works on marketing and sporting activities linked to Prancing Horse customers. Then, on Friday, the Ferrari men will be joined by their two-wheeled colleagues for the kart race on the frozen lake, which provides the setting for the spectacular closing ceremony of this week of sporting activity.
First teaser images of the new Ferrari Special Limited Series Supercar on Ferrari.com
Posted: 10.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 10 January 2013 – Now available on-line on the official Ferrari web site are the first teaser images of the new special limited series hybrid supercar which is due to debut later this year. The two images of the car accompany an interview by The Official Ferrari Magazine with Roberto Fedeli, Technical Director, and Flavio Manzoni, Head of the Styling Centre In the article they discuss the importance of the legacy of Ferrari’s previous special limited series models – the GTO, the F40, F50 and Enzo Ferrari – and the company’s approach today to transferring Formula 1 technology and innovations to its road cars.
Five of the original 36 Ferrari 250 GTOS in the Ferrari classiche department
Posted: 10.01.2013
Source: Ferrari
Maranello, 10 January – Recent trends in classic car prices have brought an increase in interest for classic Ferraris which, in turn, is providing an upsurge in requests for certifications and restoration projects for Ferrari’s in-house specialist department, Ferrari Classiche.
Currently in the factory’s workshop are no fewer than five of the 36 250 GTOs built between 1962 and 1964, a model which has attained record prices at private treaty sales. They are just some of the 24 historically significant and valuable classic Ferraris cars now gathered under one roof in the recently renovated Classiche department.
Along with the 250 GTOs are two 250 Testa Rossas, including the 1957 car that Phil Hill drove to victory at the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as three of just 32 250 LMs produced. Other significant cars include three short wheelbase 250 GT Berlinettas, a 1956 500 TR, and the 512 M that came 4th overall at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans.
To date the Classiche department has completed over 60 full, ground-up restorations – several of which have gone on to considerable success in international Concours d’Elegance – and processed over 3800 authentication certification applications. In addition, thanks to the department’s exclusive access to the company’s original technical designs and moulds, Classiche has cast numerous new engine parts, including 25 new V12 cylinder blocks and a similar number of cylinder heads, to help restore cars to original specifications.
Thanks to the services offered by Ferrari Classiche, today Ferrari collectors have access to the most authoritative restoration expertise to return their cars to original factory condition.