Ferrari auto news

REPORTS: Massa recovering but may never race again, Renault suspended for safety infraction [UPDATE]

In a development mirroring countless racing movies, Felipe Massa's doctors say that the injured driver is showing progress in his recovery, but that he may never race again. The Brazilian pilot, who narrowly missed winning the title last year, was knocked unconscious on Saturday by a loose component off the car of fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello - who coincidentally used to hold Massa's seat at Ferrari - and taken to the hospital in Budapest. Although Massa's injuries are no longer considered life-threatening and he was reportedly able to move limbs according to doctors' instructions, severe damage to his left eye could spell the end of his career.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo visited Massa at the hospital together with team principal Stefano Domenicali, who will stay with Massa's family - including his pregnant wife - another day while doctors determine how much longer he should stay at the Hungarian military facility before being moved closer to home. While Felipe's projected recovery time remains unclear at this point, it looks like he will be out for at least the rest of the season, meaning that the Scuderia will need to find someone suitable to fill his seat. The last time Ferrari had to temporarily replace an injured driver was ten years ago when Michael Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone. The team then elected to bring in Mika Salo, who supported team-mate Eddie Irvine in securing the constructors' championship for the team, rather than promoting one of its veteran test drivers.

Massa's injuries follow hot on the heels of the Henry Surtees incident that saw the son of former world champion John Surtees killed in a Formula 2 race a week ago, throwing the FIA into action to prevent further incidents. The Renault team was handed a one-race suspension as a penalty for a stray wheel that broke loose from Fernando Alonso's F1 car on Sunday and bounced dangerously down the track on the thirteenth lap of this past weekend's race. The FIA ruled that the team should have alerted its driver to the improperly secured wheel nut, and will subsequently have to sit out the upcoming European Grand Prix at Valencia, considered a home race for the penalized two-time world champion.

UPDATE: We've added a gallery of images taken during and after the incident, though should warn you that the gallery includes a shot of Massa after the accident occurred. It is not for the faint of heart, so don't look if you can't stomach seeing injuries well.

Gallery: Felipe Massa crash at Hungarian GP

REPORTS: Massa recovering but may never race again, Renault suspended for safety infraction

Felipe Massa's skull fractured by track debris during Hungarian GP qualifying

One for the Fans: Ferrari launches new Lap Time Chronograph

Making sense of Ferrari's vast merchandising empire depends entirely on how you look at the brand. As an exclusive purveyor of supercars and GTs, it amounts - in some minds, at least - to sullying the brand name. As a sports team - one of the winningest in motorsport or any other sport for that matter - it makes perfect sense, just as it does for your local pro sports franchise to sell jerseys and baseball caps.

Few organizations are as cognizant of that schism as Ferrari themselves, which currently has not one, but two separate watch lines on the market. One is made specially for Ferrari owners (actual or wannabe) by Officine Panerai. Those are the watches that sell for the big bucks. But for racing fans who see the Prancing Horse as the mascot of their favorite team (as opposed to the marque of eminently desirable exotic sportscars), Maranello has a more economically priced and sportingly styled watch line, the latest of which is the subject of this post.

The Ferrari Lap Time Chronograph is built around a Swiss anadigit movement and is housed in a 44mm stainless steel case coated in black PDV. It features a digital display for two secondary time zones, tachometers and chronometer timing functions, alarm, date display and split-second timer. It's secured to the wrist with a rubber strap emulating a grooved racing tire and is of course emblazoned with little cavalinnos all over.

Available from the Ferrari Store starting at the end of this month for €245.83 (about $350), the Lap Time Chronograph is decidedly more accessible to the average racing fan than the high-priced Panerai timepieces. Follow this link for more details and click on the thumbnails below to view images in our high-resolution gallery.

Gallery: Ferrari Lap Time Chronograph

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 7.21.09

	First Drive: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost delivers more than just a better engine Ford has revamped its Flex lineup to include a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 which produces V8 power while returning six-cylinder fuel economy. But as we found out, there's more to the 2010 Flex than a heart transplant.		Rolls-Royce gives up the Ghost... performance numbers The official performance numbers for the Rolls-Royce Ghost have been revealed, and as expected, you won't need to worry about getting embarrassed when leaving the clubhouse.
	Next Honda NSX could be dubbed "Super Hybrid Sports" The V10 NSX was supposed to own the sports car gods on Mt. Olympus, but after being nixed by Honda, rumors have emerged that the resurrected NSX will pack a V6 hybrid to challenge Toyota's own Supra replacement.	Other news of import VIDEO: New Grand Bentley teaser reveals round headlights, big grille are the real deal BMW admits four-cylinders are likely headed back to U.S. OnStar announces Remote Ignition Block for stolen vehicles GM says Camaro tranny issue is fixed, won't reveal cause Sandra Bullock: "I live for Top Gear"

Ferrari F430 Spider by Inden Design takes the low-key approach

Inden Design Ferrari F430 Spider - Click above for high-res image gallery

It's a risky game, trying to improve upon a Ferrari. There are a handful of tuners (Edo Competition, Novitec Rosso) that arguably manage to pull it off, and now German tuning house Inden Design is aiming to join the ranks with its own modified F430. Fortunately, they've kept the modifications reasonable, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel and turning an automotive work of art into a rolling atrocity.

Under the hood, Inden Design has only tweaked with the ECU and fitted a new stainless exhaust system - fairly standard mods - yielding a not insignificant 35-horsepower boost to bring total output up to 525 ponies. Sport springs were added behind the multi-spoke 20-inch wheels, while a lip spoiler, side skirts and carbon diffuser round out the aerodynamics.

Meanwhile, Inden has managed to find a few areas inside that weren't already covered in leather and saw to that with judicious application of cowhide. While we're not sure we would have the chutzpah to tinker with a Ferrari, if we were so inclined Inden Design's approach strikes us as a sound. Check out the slick high-res images in the big gallery below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Gallery: Inden Design Ferrari F430 Spider

Ferrari Scuderia owners assemble for Southern California gathering [w/VIDEO]

Ferrari Scuderia Gathering - Click above for high-res image gallery

It's a beautiful sight - a Ferrari 430 Scuderia pulls out of a parking lot and onto the street, its 4.3-liter V8 changing from an angry rumble to a screaming stallion at 8500 rpm as it accelerates down the road. Now... multiply that by 22. That was the scene in Southern California this weekend where nearly two dozen Ferrari Scuderia owners (16 430 Scuderias and six Scuderia Spider 16Ms specifically) gathered for a mini car show and drive. Fortunately there were plenty of photographers on hand to capture the event, and one, Andre Ravinowich was kind enough to provide us with a high-res gallery. You can also check out www.speedandmotion.com for additional photos and videos, one of which you can watch after the jump.

Gallery: Ferrari Scuderia Southern California Gathering

Photos copyright (C)2009 Andrew Ravinowich

Continue reading Ferrari Scuderia owners assemble for Southern California gathering [w/VIDEO]

Ferrari announces free roadside assistance for all out-of-warranty cars

Most of us love Ferraris, but let's face it - until about the past decade, the machines from Maranello weren't exactly renowned for great long-term reliability. Buying an older Ferrari (or Lamborghini, Maserati or just about any other Italian exotic for that matter) has always been something of a roll of the dice. Ferrari is now attempting to come to the rescue with a new Roadside Assistance service.

Starting in Italy and then spreading through the rest of Europe, the program will be free for at least 12 months on any Ferrari built since 1947 that isn't covered by a current warranty. Besides the usual towing services, this plan will cover any expenses required to get home or to a hotel and get your car to an authorized service facility.

So far there is no word on whether the program will be expanded to the U.S. market or how much it will cost after that first 12 months is up.

Continue reading Ferrari announces free roadside assistance for all out-of-warranty cars

REPORT: Kimi R?ikk?nen set to retire from F1 after 2009 season

Rumors are heating up that Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen will walk away from the grand prix circus at the end of the 2009 season. If the 2007 World Champion does quit, it would free up his seat for two-time champion Fernando Alonso. You'll recall that there's been talk of Alonso making the jump to Ferrari since well before his single unhappy season at McLaren. However, the circumstances have never quite worked out for him.

According to reports from his native Finland, Räikkönen may move over to full time rallying like so many of his compatriots before him. Kimi has already competed in three rallies this year and is set to do another later this month. Räikkönen still has another year left on his contract and Ferrari may end up paying his €28 million salary in order to keep him out of any other F1 seat in 2010.

(Un)mellow Yellow: Upgrade your Ferrari 599 with dealer-installed HGTE package [w/VIDEO]

Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano with HGTE package - Click above for high-res image gallery

Life is tough, we know. You sit for months on a waiting list, drop six figures, order your Ferrari just the way you want it, and then bam! They come out with an even better version. What's a supercar owner to do? Well in the case of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and the Handling GTE package unveiled to go with it at the Geneva Motor Show just a few months ago (shown above in yellow for the first time), we've got good news as Ferrari has announced the availability of the package as a dealer-installable kit on existing 599s.

The package includes a host of enhancements to the GT's already superlative capabilities, grouped into four areas: handling, performance, exhaust and aesthetics. Handling includes a suspension lowered by 10mm, magnetorheologically re-calibrated and stiffened by over 15%; beefed up in anti-roll bars, and stickier tires mounted on upgraded modular wheels.

The performance enhancements include new exhaust silencers, upgrades to the transmission software that cut shift times down to 85 milliseconds, as well as new lines of code that summon improved throttle response. The performance kit can only be installed on post-2008 models with the sequential transmission, while pre-2008 or manual-equipped models can get the exhaust kit without the remapped throttle and transmission.

Finally, the aesthetic improvements consist of a new front grille and Prancing Horse emblems front and back in a burnished finish instead of the usual chrome. The only thing which the dealer-installed HGTE kit doesn't include from the factory-equipped models is the interior trim package. Released first for the British market, the kit costs £19,703 (~$32k USD), or £17,213 (~$28k) without the upgraded transmission and throttle calibrations. Check out the fresh gallery of images below and follow the jump for the full press release and an in-car video of the HGTE-equipped 599 pouring on the heat.

Gallery: Ferrari 599 HGTE in yellow

Continue reading (Un)mellow Yellow: Upgrade your Ferrari 599 with dealer-installed HGTE package [w/VIDEO]