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Ferrari 458 Challenge's door pummeled by passing Mazda

Sometimes, following the simplest rules of driving can make the biggest of differences. For example, had the driver of this Ferrari 458 Challenge racecar checked his mirror before getting out, maybe a passing car wouldn't have plowed into the door. Oops. A viral video has been making the rounds this week showing a nightmare scenario between a track-focused Ferrari and a pedestrian Mazda sedan. The Ferrari is seen slowly driving through a tight street before stopping to talk to somebody through his extremely tiny race-adapted window. The driver is told to park on the side of the street, while onlookers take photos and video. Unfortunately, the driver was so focused on parking and getting out, that he opened his door without checking for incoming traffic. The door swings open right before what appears to be a Mazda 3 drives through the street. The door is obliterated, and the video stops. The 458 Challenge debuted in 2010. It has a 570-horsepower V8 from the 458 Italia, but its weight, handling, and driving characteristics were significantly altered for racing. The gear ratios and transmission were adjusted for better low-end torque, it has stiffer springs and a lower stance, upgraded brakes, and thinner body panels. Right now on DuPont Registry, there are a variety of 458 Challenges for sale ranging from about $125,000 to roughly $200,000. All said, Challenge Ferraris are intended for track use only. Maybe the driver should have listened?

2015 Belgian Grand Prix is a return to scheduled programming

With summer intermission over, the second half of the Formula One season commenced in the Belgian countryside at Spa-Francorchamps. After qualifying, it looked a lot like the first half of the season with just a few minor changes. Lewis Hamilton was even more dominant in his Mercedes-AMG Petronas than usual, regularly taking half a second out of his teammate in just the middle sector of the circuit. Teammate Nico Rosberg tightened it up a tad for his final hot lap, but Hamilton still took pole by 0.45 seconds ahead of Rosberg in second. With his Williams back at a power track, Valtteri Bottas got himself up to third, although more than a second behind Hamilton. Romain Grosjean in the Lotus in fourth had his best qualifying performance since his fourth-place grid spot at the 2013 US Grand Prix. This was a huge boon for Lotus, the team facing another financial issue off track that threatened to have its cars impounded as soon as they left the circuit. Grosjean had to have his gearbox changed before the conclusion of six races, however, so the five-spot penalty meant he'd actually line up ninth for the race. Sergio Perez put the Sahara Force India in fifth, where we're more used to seeing his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the Infiniti Red Bull Racing in sixth. Felipe Massa got the second Williams in seventh, in front of the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado in eighth. Then came the first and only Ferrari in the top ten, Sebastian Vettel qualifying ninth after a disappointing Saturday for the scuderia; teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered gearbox issues and qualified way down in 16th. Carlos Sainz took tenth in the Toro Rosso. A new start procedure in Belgium meant drivers had to handle clutches on their own, without the engineers finely tuning bite points between the garage and the start line. That was in conjunction with another rule limiting the kinds of radio messages possible between engineers and drivers, aiming to put more of the car in the drivers' hands. After an aborted start when Hulkenberg's car quit while sitting on the grid, Hamilton made the most of the new procedure. His start wasn't amazing but he beat everyone else off the line, while those behind were alternately getting bogged down or leaping ahead. Midway through the first lap the top ten was Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Rosberg, Vettel, Maldonado, Grosjean, Massa, Marcus Ericsson. At the end of 43 laps, Hamilton would still be in the lead.

Ferrari wants to provide Red Bull with its own engines

Ferrari is proposing a different sort of arrangement that could provide Red Bull with the engines it needs to continue competing in Formula One. Rather than sell the team the same engines its own competition department uses, the Maranello outfit suggests creating a separate engineering program for Red Bull to get its own engine package. The issue of where Red Bull will get its engines has been looming over the paddock for several months. Though its current partnership with Renault yielded four straight world championships, the relationship has gone sour over the last couple of years as performance has dropped off. That has left Red Bull looking for a new engine supplier, but with Ferrari, Mercedes, and Honda all powering their own entries, none have been particularly keen to motivate Red Bull. A proposal to bring Volkswagen into the sport in partnership with the team fell apart in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. And while the FIA may be moving ahead to bring an independent engine supplier into the series, that doesn't look likely to take shape in time for next season. Ferrari – like Mercedes and McLaren-Honda – says it won't simply hand one of its chief rivals the same engine package as it uses itself. But speaking to Motorsport.com at Ferrari's Finali Mondiali event at Mugello this weekend, Sergio Marchionne proposed a different course of action. That would involve making the building blocks of Ferrari's power unit, along with the wealth of its engineering talent, available to Red Bull for the team to plot its own engine development program in parallel to Maranello's own. The Ferrari chairman (and Fiat Chrysler chief) says he has already raised the idea with Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz and his racing adviser Helmut Marko. If it does work out, we could potentially see Ferrari setting up similar programs with its other customer teams. Those currently include Sauber and Marussia, and Haas and Toro Rosso could soon join the mix as well. Adding Red Bull would mean that over half of the grid would be powered by Ferrari engines as soon as next season. Related Video: News Source: Motorsport.comImage Credit: Red Bull Motorsports Ferrari F1