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Ferrari considering Netflix and esports involvement

Ferrari are considering engaging with Netflix on a second Formula One documentary as well as joining the rest of the 10 teams in the esports world championship, team boss Mattia Binotto said on Friday. Ferrari and champions Mercedes did not cooperate on the successful 'Drive to Survive' 10-part fly-on-the-wall series filmed by Netflix last season, arguing that they needed to focus on the title battle. When their cars or drivers did feature, it was from the official world feed television footage. "It's certainly an interesting program. We were not participating last season as Ferrari," Binotto told reporters at the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 21 race championship. "We are considering it at the moment. We have not taken our final decision, so it's something we will do in the next few weeks." Formula One's managing director Sean Bratches said this month that he expected a second series to go ahead, with filming already underway. Ferrari are the only ones without a presence in the official F1 esports championship, which is in its third season and involves the teams only later in the year. Mercedes won both titles last year, as in the real world. Binotto said Ferrari's stance on that could change as well. "Esport is increasing in terms of interest and certainly as Ferrari we are looking seriously into it," he said. "We are not yet fully committed to the program but it's something where the discussions are ongoing and we will very soon make our own decision."

Ferrari to stop supplying Maserati with its engines

The Ferrari Q1 earnings call was full of information, and perhaps the biggest revelation was that Ferrari is going to stop supplying engines to Maserati. CEO Louis Camilleri broke the news, and The Motley Fool posted a transcript of the whole call online. "Eventually, we will no longer supply engines to Maserati, which actually from our perspective is actually a good thing, both from a margin perspective, but also the fact that we can transfer a lot of the labor that's been focused on the engines to the car side of the business," Camilleri says. Maserati has used Ferrari engines (arguably, one of the most compelling reasons to buy a Maserati) in its vehicles since 2002, a little while after Fiat passed Maserati off to the prancing horse. The partnership continued as both Ferrari and Maserati were under the same house at FCA. Then when Ferrari was spun off from FCA in 2015, they kept the supply steady to Maserati. Those engines include a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8, 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 and a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V8. Camilleri said Ferrari will officially stop in 2021 or 2022, with no intention of supplying anybody with engines beyond that. Of course, this leaves Maserati high and dry with no engines for its growing lineup. Maserati will have to reach into the FCA parts bin, find a new outside supplier or develop its own engines. Battery electric sounds out of the question. As of now, there doesn't appear to be a clear plan going forward. We've reached out to Maserati to see if they have any comment on the situation as it stands.

Ferrari launches 488 GTB configurator

Though it may not be as expensive as, say, a Pagani or Bugatti, the bottom line is that most of us will never be able to afford buying a new Ferrari. And most of those who can would probably get one already consigned to a dealer rather than wait on the list. But we can certainly dream. That's where configuration utilities come in, and Ferrari has just added the new 488 GTB to its online customization tool. The system demonstrates just how deeply customers can specify every detail on their new Prancing Horse, from the exterior paint and interior upholstery down to the tiniest detail. Ferrari's lets you choose the color of the brake calipers, the amount of carbon-fiber trim inside and out, the stitching on the leather seats, the color of the carpets and the seat belts. You can even play with the height of the sun in the sky to see how your choices would stand up to the changing light of day. Play around with it first-hand and you'll see, there's really no reason any two should ever have to roll out of Maranello alike. Related Video: