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Ferrari 488 GTB slides through the night

Offer a chance to listen to a Ferrari rev, and you immediately get our attention. For a new promotional video, Pennzoil goes even further by unleashing the 488 GTB on the track and then drifting it around Barcelona, Spain, at night. Add in a some classical music to accompany the twin-turbocharged V8, and the result is a fantastic display of automotive power. The video has a simple premise of showing off the 488 GTB, but the clip excels at its goal of displaying the model's performance. Check out the action above to see what we mean. If you want to know more, a behind the scenes look is below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video:

Vettel sticks with Ferrari for three more years in 'a no-brainer' move

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) - Sebastian Vettel ended speculation about his immediate Formula One future by signing a three-year contract extension with Ferrari on Saturday. The Italian team, the sport's most successful and glamorous, said the new deal covered the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons but gave no further details in a statement of just 30 words. There will be inevitable questions about possible release clauses, not to mention speculation about how many tens of millions of dollars the 30-year-old German will be earning over the period. But the news, at the Belgian Grand Prix and a week before his team's home Italian race at Monza, will allow Ferrari to concentrate on fighting for the championship without distraction. "I love this team. I love the people who are working for this brand," Vettel told reporters later. "Ferrari has something unique, something that other teams don't have. People talk about a legend. To me it appears that this legend is still alive because of the people who work for it, day in, day out. "In a way, it was a no-brainer to continue. We haven't yet achieved what we wanted to achieve but things are looking pretty good, and obviously we have a long road ahead of us," he added. The four-times champion, who joined Ferrari from Red Bull in 2015, is 14 points clear of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in the current standings with nine races remaining. The German had been out of contract at the end of this season and there had been speculation about a possible switch to Mercedes -- a move that would have sent a tremor through the paddock. Hamilton, a triple world champion who has one more year left on his Mercedes contract, laughed off that possibility earlier in the week when he told reporters that his rival did not want to be his team mate. Niki Lauda, the Mercedes non-executive chairman, told Sky Sports that there had been talks with Vettel but team principal Toto Wolff said that was not the case. Vettel's Finnish team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, has already agreed a contract extension for 2018, keeping Ferrari's line-up unchanged for next year. Raikkonen, 37, and Vettel get on well, with the Finn playing the role of loyal sidekick to the team's main championship contender. Mercedes are now likely to retain Finland's Valtteri Bottas, who joined in January from Williams as a replacement for now-retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg on a one-year deal with options.

Ferrari developing V-twin motorcycle engine?

When we read reports that Ferrari had applied for a patent on a V-twin engine design, our first thought was to check the date: this says the first of October, right... not April? And so here we are, entertaining the notion that Ferrari could be developing a motorcycle engine.
The report comes from Autocar, which claims to have dug up the application to patent the design for an "internal combustion engine having two cylinders, which are arranged in a 'V' configuration." In other words, a motorcycle engine. The application reportedly goes on to describe a balancing shafts to reduce vibration. Our own research did not lead us to find the application in question, so we'll have to take it with a grain of salt for the moment. But supposing it's all on the up and up, and that Ferrari was actually developing a motorcycle engine. Would that be so out of the ordinary?
Well, yes and no. Parent company Fiat, which is taking increased direct control of Ferrari, is undoubtedly looking at rival Volkswagen and its recent acquisition of Ducati (putting it in close proximity to Lamborghini) and would be keen to get in on that action. However tenuous the relationship, Lotus has also recently authorized a motorcycle bearing its name. And of course automakers like BMW and Honda, with which Ferrari has competed on and off the race track, also make motorcycles.