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Ferrari steering wheel may hold key to rocket F1 starts

Ferrari's brilliant getaways at the Australian Grand Prix were key to its early victory challenge – and could well be the result of a unique approach to new start restrictions that Giorgio Piola has uncovered. Although Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid in Melbourne, it was a sensational getaway from Sebastian Vettel that helped the German swoop into the lead by the first corner. As team boss Maurizio Arrivabene said: "The start was super. I have to say both of the drivers, they start like two rockets. After that they were able to take an advantage, and that was good for us." Such great starts from Ferrari are nothing new – just look at Hungary last year – but as Piola's exclusive drawing reveals, the team may well have taken things to an all-new level in ensuring it does not miss any detail in this area. In-built advantage As early as pre-season testing, rivals had been alerted about what Ferrari was capable of by monitoring data from Barcelona. Red Bull boss Christian Horner said: "We saw that in pre-season testing their starts have been really strong." Even ahead of the race, there were rumours that Ferrari knew it would excel in this area. Its decision to not do a second run in Melbourne's Q3 was mainly fuelled by its desire to save a set of super soft tyres for the race. But another suggestion also emerged – that the team knew just how good its starts were so securing the second row of the grid was good enough for it to believe it had a shout of the lead on the first lap. A single paddle As Piola's comparison of Ferrari's 2015 and 2016 steering wheel arrangement shows, the team has been the most aggressive in changing its clutch configuration for this year. New rules mean that drivers can only use a single hand on a single clutch paddle for the race start – even if teams choose to keep a double-paddle arrangement for emergencies. Ferrari has opted for something totally different to its main rivals by abandoning a double paddle arrangement (see red arrows on above left image). Instead, it has a single 'rocker' paddle that stretches all the way across the back of the wheel. Investing in such a dramatic design change clearly points to it having unlocked a decent performance advantage. The exact reasons for this configuration are unclear, but it may be that it allows the driver a greater feel for the clutch bite point – and means he is better able to judge how to deliver the perfect getaway.

The Ferrari 488 Pista is a 711 HP mid-engine track monster

Meet the Ferrari 488 Pista. The twin-turbo 3.9-liter V8 produces 720 of France's Cheval Vapeur, which equates to 710 of our U.S. horsepower, while torque churns in at 568 pound-feet. Those numbers outdo the 488 GTB by 50 hp and eight pound-feet of torque. The engine will get the 488 Pista in its lightest guise from a standstill to 62 miles per hour in 2.85 seconds, with 124 mph arriving in 7.6 seconds. Maximum velocity tops out at 211 mph. Ferrari Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video

Race Recap: Belgian Grand Prix sings Waltzing Matilda

Changeable. Each commentator will use that word at least 6,072 times over the Belgian Formula One
Grand Prix weekend. It is almost always applied to the weather, because the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit - perhaps all of Belgium - resides in some sort of climatological Narnia, its ADD skies totally unable to settle on a reliable behavior.
A dry Friday turned into a thoroughly wet qualifying on Saturday. When Q3 had done, Nico Rosberg would line up on pole position for the fourth race in a row for Mercedes AMG Petronas, after teammate Lewis Hamilton had another brake problem, this time glazing on one of the discs. Infiniti Red Bull Racing engineered a low-downforce setup and Sebastian Vettel took the best advantage, lining up third and making us wonder if the magic was back. Fernando Alonso drove the first Ferrari to fourth, the Spaniard saying he thought a podium was possible. Daniel Ricciardo put the second Infiniti Red Bull Racing in fifth, Valtteri Bottas behind him in the first Williams, then Kimi Räikkönen in the second Ferrari, Felipe Massa in the second Williams and Jenson Button in the sole McLaren in the top ten.