Ferrari: 308 Gtsi on 2040-cars

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Ferrari celebrates its founder's birthday

Buon cumpleanno, Commendatore! That's what we'd be saying today to Enzo Ferrari if he were still alive. But the founder of the Prancing Horse marque passed away at the ripe old age of 90 way back in 1988. If he were still with us today, he'd be 118 years old. And we can't help but wonder what he'd think of his legacy if he were still around to see it. Enzo Anselmo Ferrari was born in Modena before the turn of the century – no, the previous century – way back in 1898. He started out as a racing driver, but soon found his real talents laid in preparing the racecars, not driving them. After achieving success running Alfa Romeo's factory team, Enzo struck out on his own - initially under the name Auto Avio Costruzioni (due to the terms of his previous contract) and then under the Scuderia Ferrari name. Under Enzo's leadership and those that followed, Ferrari emerged as one of the most successful teams in motor racing. The Scuderia has scored more championships, checkered flags, podiums, pole positions, and fastest laps than any other in the history of Formula One. And though it hasn't fielded a factory effort in the top tier decades, it's still among the winningest constructors at Le Mans, with nine outright wins between 1949 and 1965 – outscored only by Audi and Porsche. It also won the Targa Florio seven times, the Mille Miglia another eight, and Sebring 12 times. After famously rejecting a takeover bid from Ford, Enzo sold half his company to Fiat in 1969. He retained control until his passing in 1988 – upon which Fiat took over another 40 percent, leaving 10 to the Ferrari family. But now the company is independent again, having split off from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles empire, and floated its IPO on the stock market. Though his son still serves as vice chairman, Enzo's prodigy and successor, Luca di Montezemolo, is gone. The road car division makes hybrids but no manual transmissions, the racing department hasn't won the Formula One World Championship since 2008, the theme park in Abu Dhabi welcomes more visitors than the factory museum, and the company makes a significant portion of its revenue these days from selling branded merchandise. It's a very different company, in short, from the one Enzo founded back in 1947, but it wouldn't be here without him. The factory is celebrating with a raft of social media posts. For our part down here, to il Commendatore at the big autodromo in the sky: happy birthday, Enzo.

NHTSA fines Ferrari $3.5 million for missing reports

Ferrari will pay a $3.5 million penalty for family to comply with oversight requirements set forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The federal agency that oversees road safety in the United States announced Friday morning that Ferrari had not submitted early warning reports for the past three years. These reports help the agency identify potential or existing safety threats.
In the wake of the rolling recalls for defective General Motors ignition switches, there has been considerable scrutiny of NHTSA's handling - or mishandling - of these early warning reports. Friday's fine is an indication the agency is taking its enforcement mandates more seriously, albeit against a manufacturer that has no large-scale presence on American roads.

Vettel says halo would have saved Wilson, Surtees

Sebastian Vettel reckons the aesthetics of the new halo protection system do not matter as long as it helps save lives in Formula 1. The Ferrari driver ran with the device for the first time on Friday, after teammate Kimi Raikkonen tested it on Thursday. The halo, however, was subject to harsh criticism from some drivers like world champion Lewis Hamilton, who said it was the "worst-looking mod in F1 history". Force India Nico Hulkenberg was also against the device and labelled it as "horrible". Four-time champion Vettel, however, is convinced drivers like Justin Wilson and Henry Surtees - who died after being hit in the head by objects during races - would still be alive today had the halo system been used in their cars. "First of all, to go around is okay. You can see what you need to see," Vettel told reporters on Friday. "I think we can improve the system in terms of aesthetics and also in terms of how much it's in your way, but I tested it as well in the simulator and I think we will see evolutions of it very soon. "In principle I agree it doesn't look very nice but equally it helps increase the safety, it helps saving lives. "There would be at least two drivers in the last four years there I remember that would still be around – Henry Surtees and Justin Wilson – if we had this type of system. "I think it can be very ugly but nothing justifies not having these two guys around." Additional reporting by Roberto Chinchero This article by Pablo Elizalde originally appeared on Motorsport.com, the world's leader in auto racing news, photos and video.Related Video: