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Buongiorno Roma! What the beautiful GT means for Ferrari's future

The new Ferrari Roma was seen in the flesh during its unveiling in Rome yesterday, and I can confirm that it is not only one of the most beautiful Ferraris in recent memory, but one of the handsomest of any contemporary sport or luxury car. Its details are predictably rich, well rendered, and pointedly, alluring and accessible. But it is not just the details in a car from the famed Italian sports car manufacturer, and one that is expected to start at around $250,000. "If you now go in the market, and you ask someone who can afford (a Ferrari) — because this is not a cheap product —why don't you buy a Ferrari? They are tempted, but most of them are a bit afraid. 'I don't know if I can drive it, it's very aggressive,'" said Enrico Galliera, the brand's chief marketing officer, in an interview with Autoblog. "And that's one of the major answers. It's not, 'It's too expensive,' or 'I don't want to have fun driving.'" There's a kind of fear of the brand's reputation for aggression and showiness. The Roma is intended to soothe these concerns, and entice new clients into the Ferrari stable. This is accomplished by making everything at once more sophisticated, more mature, and more enticing. On the inside, one is especially drawn to the big, curved and crystalline LCD instrument panel and large center screen, the cozy and coddling leather seats, and the new aviation-inspired metal toggles that act as the transmission selector. Less impressive are the capacitive haptic "buttons" on the steering wheel, but judgment will be reserved on those until we have a chance to experience them while driving, instead of just while sitting on a stage making embarrassing vroom-vroooooommmmmm noises. But it is the outside that really has me drooling. This is not just because the Roma has classical rear-drive GT proportions, with a fiendishly long hood, a selfish not-quite-four-place cabin that the brand describes simply as a "2+," and a truncated Kamm-back tail. It is because the design is so improbably clean, devoid of the strakes, scoops, spoilers, or even ancillary lines that corrupt so many modern cars. Especially evocative is the treatment of the front and rear, both of which are impossibly low, without ever feeling threateningly so. It all feels of a piece, and there's not a bad angle. "We want to transmit this idea of harmony, and a beautiful dynamic in balance," said Ferrari head of design Flavio Manzioni.

Ferrari embroiled in legal battle over 21-year-old's Facebook page

Ferrari is facing a court battle in Switzerland due to alleged copyright infringement over taking over a Facebook fan site. If the suit is successful, it could cost the company millions and harm its reputation on social media.
Sammy Wassem started the Facebook fan page for Ferrari when he was 15 and eventually grew it to over 500,000 followers. In 2009, the company congratulated the him on the site's success, but said that "legal issues" forced it to take over the administration, according to Automotive News Europe. Wassem could still use the site, but managers had oversight.
Wassem asked Ferrari for financial compensation to keep working on the page but continued creating content on it for the next four years. Eventually, the company terminated his administration rights, and In 2013, the he and his father Olivier filed the lawsuit against the business alleging it owes payment over 5,500 hours of work and copyright infringement for taking over the page. They are asking for 10 million Swiss francs ($11.3 million).

Formula One speeds towards radical thousand-horsepower shakeup

The teams, the drivers, the fans, the circuits... few, if any, were satisfied with how Formula One has shaped up since the current regulations took hold last year. But that doesn't mean they aren't working on it. At a recent meeting of the F1 Strategy Group, the leading parties in the sport outlined a new framework that would radically shake up the cars themselves while keeping costs in check. And the biggest change could see the engines producing around 1,000 horsepower. Although a proposal put forth by Ferrari to ditch the current V6 hybrid engines in favor of new twin-turbocharged units was rejected by Honda and Mercedes, the members of the group approved in principal to increase the fuel flow in the existing engines to dramatically boost output. As it stands, the current 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 engines develop around 600 horsepower, with an additional 160 or so kicked in by the electric Energy Recovery System, for a combined output of about 760 hp. What's not clear at the moment is whether the increased fuel flow would necessitate either the return of mid-race refueling (currently banned) or the installation of larger fuel tanks. Red Bull and McLaren also submitted proposals to radically redesign the shape of the cars as well, however a more evolutionary approach was adopted instead. Though far from finalized, the new design would keep the same basic form of the current chassis, but with adjustments to make them more aesthetically pleasing while producing more downforce. Wider tires are also said to be part of the mix. With more power and more grip from the tires and aero, the resulting cars would most certainly end up going much faster than the current ones, which are already starting to nudge the lap records at some of the circuits, many of which were set during the V10 era. The F1 Strategy Group is made up of representatives of the FIA, Formula One Management and six leading teams. The next step will be for the teams' technical directors to iron out how to implement what their bosses have agreed to. If they settle the details fast enough, the revised regulations could be pushed through in time for next season. News Source: AutosportImage Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Motorsports Ferrari Honda Infiniti McLaren Mercedes-Benz F1