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Ferrari, BMW lend expertise to Olympic bobsled, skeleton, luge

LONDON — There are plenty of reasons why the sport of bobsleigh is sometimes referred to as Formula One on ice, but few as obvious as Italy's World Cup sleds. Resplendent in Ferrari red, and with a set of team sponsor Pirelli's P-Zero tyres painted on the sides, they are even liveried to look like racing cars. Ferrari, Formula One's most glamorous and successful team, have worked with the Italian federation, whose sleds run without sponsor branding at the Olympics, since 2010 and in the run-up to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games. Former rival BMW, title sponsor of the World Cup, has long partnered the U.S. bobsleigh team, while McLaren teamed up with Britain's bob and skeleton athletes for the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. "There's always the link between the Formula One companies, or any motor company, and skeleton and bobsleigh," says Rachel Blackburn, the engineer who has been involved in Britain's skeleton program since 2006 and who used to work for McLaren. "There's the Ferrari sleds and the BMW sleds ... when we were at McLaren it kind of made a good story," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Dubai. That somewhat manufactured rivalry has died down in the years since Sochi, with McLaren no longer involved and Ferrari's presence low key. But the worlds of grand prix motor racing and sliding sports still have plenty in common. Bobsled, luge and skeleton are among the fastest of Olympic sports, with bobsleds reaching speeds over 90 mph. Drivers are subjected to gut-wrenching G-forces, and crashes can be fatal. And then there is the ongoing debate about cost controls, the direction of future rules, preserving a level playing field and obsessive secrecy — all endlessly recurring themes in Formula One. 80 mph on a tea tray Blackburn said skeleton, where riders hit 80 mph on what has glibly been compared to an oversized tea-tray, sits somewhere between Americas Cup yachts and Formula One cars in terms of speed and aerodynamics. "Applied engineering is far more interesting than the pure stuff, so when its applied to something that's fun and exciting it does make it a lot easier to solve problems," she said. "There is the Americas Cup, sailing, Formula One and the high speed ice sports as well. It's the same concept.

Scuderia Ferrari dreams up the F1 car of the future

Formula One is in for a big shakeup, at least if all the parties can agree on a way forward at a meeting of the F1 commission today in Geneva. And this is the way Ferrari apparently hopes things will go. Dreamt up by the design department in Maranello, this concept represents Ferrari's vision for the F1 car of the future. Its got far more streamlined aerodynamics, a two-tier front wing, a much larger rear wing, and wheels that are still "open" but far more enveloped than anything we've seen to date, wrapped in low-profile tires like those proposed by Pirelli. The cockpit is still open as well, contrary to proposals to enclose them, with a conceptual helmet design that seems to meld into the bodywork – though we're not quite sure how that would be implemented, practically speaking. It's a pretty striking design, especially compared to the oddball shapes to which modern grand prix racers have evolved over recent years, with all their fragile appendages. Actually putting this into practice, though, is another matter entirely. Both McLaren and Red Bull were said to have shown their own evolutionary designs to the F1 strategy group, though they didn't release theirs to the public. This pie-in-the-sky proposal from Ferrari looks a bit closer to some of the radical, futuristic designs penned by Red Bull for Gran Turismo. Featured Gallery Ferrari Design Formula 1 Concept News Source: Ferrari Motorsports Ferrari Concept Cars Racing Vehicles F1 scuderia ferrari

Novitec shows off its version of the Ferrari 812 Superfast

It's hard to imagine improving upon the unbelievable Ferrari 812 Superfast, but Novitec now offers a way to do just that. Performance upgrades to the 789 horsepower 6.5-liter V12 are scheduled to come later, but there's no shortage of things you can tack on now. To begin, Novitec developed an aero package using carbon fiber. Developed in a wind tunnel, Novitec claims its package reduces front-axle lift after fitment of the front spoiler lip and surround for the center air intake. Carbon fiber rocker panels, a rear spoiler lip and carbon fiber rear fascia are all fitted to complete the carbon aero look. Novitec offers a lowering spring package that takes it down 1.37 inches, but improved dampers are not paired with. Since it's lowered, a lift kit can be installed, which can raise the front end by 1.57 inches with the press of a button. You'll be wanting this to save the very expensive carbon front lip we mentioned earlier. Larger wheels are added with a staggered 21-inch-front and 22-inch-rear setup. Novitec goes to the trouble of using a separate dye for each wheel so the shape of the spokes are tailored to the specific corner of the car the wheel goes on. This is cool because not only do you get a minute gain in brake cooling, but you also get to brag about your wild wheel setup. A couple different exhausts are available to make the 812 Superfast even louder than it already is. The one you'll want is made of Inconel, which is the same stuff used in Formula 1. This exhaust saves just over 24 pounds over the stock Ferrari exhaust system. A version with controlled exhaust flaps is possible, as well. We wish we could tell you how much a Novitec 812 Superfast costs with everything on it, but prices aren't available for it yet. Needless to say, Novitec knows it's pricing them for Ferrari owners, so you can bet everything will be expensive. A base 812 Superfast goes for about $335,000, but we imagine there aren't many of those in the world. Related video: