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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc takes third straight pole at Singapore GP

SINGAPORE — Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc claimed a third straight Formula One pole position on Saturday after outpacing championship leader Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc clocked a lap of 1 minute, 36.217 seconds at the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) Marina Bay street circuit, beating Hamilton by 0.191 seconds. Leclerc's teammate Sebastian Vettel was third. "If you look at the lap, it was a good lap, but there were some moments that I lost control," Leclerc said. "We brought some new bits that worked properly, which was good to see. I had a very tough Friday and didn't feel comfortable in the car, but we worked hard and it paid off." Leclerc has won the previous two races. After his first-ever F1 victory in Spa at the Belgian GP, the 21-year-old Leclerc became the first Ferrari driver to win the Italian GP since Fernando Alonso in 2010. Hamilton holds a 63-point lead over Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas with seven races remaining. "I don't know where Ferrari picked up their pace, it's not usually one of their circuits," Hamilton said. "But they did a great job, Charles did some great laps. Hopefully we can be in the mix with them tomorrow. I think we can be aggressive." While Hamilton already has eight wins this season, his last came at the Hungarian GP in early August. Pole position in Singapore is crucial as its one of the hardest tracks for overtaking in F1. The driver leading the field has won eight times in the past 11 years. Hamilton has won in Singapore the past two years. Another victory in Sunday's night race would move the Briton a step closer to his third straight championship and sixth overall, one shy of Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles. Vettel, whose contract ends in 2020, is on a 13-month winless streak. His last victory was at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix. Vettel and Hamilton are the only two drivers on the grid with victories at Singapore — with four wins each. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fourth, almost four-tenths behind Vettel. Bottas was fifth for Mercedes ahead of Red Bull's Alex Albon. Carlos Sainz Jr. took seventh place for McLaren in front of the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg was ninth in the second Renault with McLaren's Lando Norris rounding out the top 10. Motorsports Ferrari Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel singapore grand prix charles leclerc

New Ferrari 812 prototype spotted crawling around Maranello

In late 2018 the FerrariChat forum lit up with word that Ferrari planned three special editions of the 812Superfast. We saw one of them last November, in the targa-topped 812 GTS. The second was rumored to go even further with the undress, boasting a speedster-like form omitting the roof entirely as well as most of the windshield. If that arrives, it would slot into an expanding segment of supercar speedsters like the McLaren Elva and mysterious roofless Aston Martin. The third model was spoken of as a hardcore variant called 812 Monza or 812 MM, for Mille Miglia. Instagram user Wilco Blok posted photos taken by Lorenzo Roman that show a blacked-out 812 in prototype form prowling the streets of Modena. This is thought to be our first glimpse of what could be that hardcore variant, which The Supercar Blog now says "is being referred to as the 812 GTO."   This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The changes look mild for the moment, but could stand out when in full dress akin to the massaging given the F12 TDF compared to the standard F12. The prototype 812's front intake has opened up, set into a bumper that's had its creases smoothed over and could be slightly wider. The side sills have been taped over, and the air extractors in the rear fenders behind the rear wheels have been covered. In back, new bodywork protrudes around the exhaust outlets on both sides with what appears to be additional venting. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Autoevolution suspects this Ferrari will be the last to make use of the F140 V12 that the Enzo introduced to the world in 2002. Having started with a 6.0-liter displacement and an output of 641 horsepower and 485 pound-feet of torque in the Enzo, the figures have risen to 6.5-liters with 789 hp and 530 lb-ft in the 812Superfast. The outlet thinks Ferrari will up the 8,500 rpm redline in the hardcore 812 beyond the 9,000 rpm found in the 789-hp LaFerrari, in order to coax a naturally aspirated 850 hp from the 12-cylinder. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Ferrari likes to make splashes at the Geneva Motor Show, so there's a chance that's where we'll find out what the 812 has in store next.

Ferrari reopens wind tunnel after 18-month refurb

Ferrari is not a company used to being behind the curve, but if you've been wondering how the Scuderia has lost so much territory on the Formula One circuit to a relative newcomer like Red Bull, part of the answer could come down to its wind tunnel.
Seriously, the wind tunnel? Yes, the wind tunnel. Aerodynamics play an increasingly vital role in F1 racing, and while Red Bull has one of the best in the business, Ferrari's hasn't been running right for some time now.
A year and a half ago Ferrari shut down the galleria del vento at its headquarters in Maranello, citing problems with "correlation" - that is, a major discrepancy between the results it got in the wind tunnel, in CFD computations and on the racetrack. Having narrowed the problem down, the Scuderia embarked upon a major overhaul. It's been using Toyota's facility in Cologne, Germany, in the meantime, but as team principal Stefano Domenicali put it, not having your own wind tunnel on premises "is like playing basketball with one hand behind your back." Now the renovations reportedly complete, however, and Ferrari will begin using its wind tunnel again next month.