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Weekly Recap: Ferrari pens a provocative F1 car of the future

Scuderia Ferrari unveiled its vision of the future for Formula One this week, revealing sketches of a sleek, muscular racecar. Called the Concept F1, Ferrari is showcasing the design to start a conversation about the next generation of Formula One cars and spur interest in the sport, which has been maligned for its unattractive racecars in recent years. The Concept F1 was penned by the company's in-house studio, Centro Stile Ferrari, with input from its aerodynamics department. Though the sketches look futuristic, the company says the design could be executed without changing F1 regulations. From its beginning, Ferrari's racecars have had both form and function, winning on the track and turning heads with everything from the 250 Testa Rossa, 330 P3, Michael Schumacher's single-seaters from the early 2000s and many others. That lineage led the Scuderia's leaders to survey the paddock, wring their hands and come up with the Concept F1. As Ferrari said on its website: "Our challenge was to create something that was – to put it short – better looking." It's a philosophy that was implemented for this season's car, the SF15-T. While not groundbreaking in appearance, Ferrari cleaned up the design, particularly up front, and the racecar now has a more attractive nose that delivers better aerodynamics. It's more of the same in back, where a tighter design creates more downforce. "This year's car is certainly an awful lot better looking than last year's car," Ferrari technical director James Allison said in a video on the Scuderia's website. The updates come as Ferrari, and all F1 teams, get a better handle on the extensive 2014 rule changes that brought back turbocharged engines and altered the aerodynamic regulations for the series. Less dramatic changes also are going into effect this year. Ferrari, which is coming off a disappointing fourth-place finish in the World Championship, is obviously looking to the future. Appearances have always mattered for the red cars. We'll see if they bring the Scuderia success this season and beyond. Other News and Notes Next-generation Chrysler Town & Country spied Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is hard at work on the next-gen Town & Country minivan, and our spy shooters have captured heavily covered prototypes during testing on the road. We can't tell anything about the exterior design, though we see glimpses of an instrument panel (which looks vaguely Dodge Charger-esque) and infotainment screen inside.

Kimi out, Bottas in at Ferrari?

Things have not gone well for Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen since he returned to the team in 2014. After a pair of strong seasons for Lotus that saw him finish third and fifth, the Finn ended last season in 12th, 106 points behind his teammate, Spaniard Fernando Alonso. His 2015 fortunes have improved – he currently sits in fourth, only a spot behind teammate Sebastian Vettel – but he's been remarkably inconsistent, struggling with the SF15-T, a car that was specifically designed to work with his driving style. He only has a single podium this season, was forced to retire in Australia after a bad pitstop, and he crashed out of the most recent round in Austria. Clearly, Kimi should just stay away from races starting in "Austr." That advice may have come too late, though, as rumors are bubbling up that Ferrari may be swapping its Finns, dropping Raikkonen for his young countryman, Valtteri Bottas. Fox News, citing a report from Germany's Bild, claims Ferrari has made an offer to Bottas' current team, Williams, to secure his services. It doesn't sound like the British team will give him up all that easily, though. According to Fox, Williams enjoys a contractual "option" on the 25-year-old Finn's contract for next season, and that Ferrari would need to buy that contract out to steal him away. Bild claims the Italians have offered $4.4 million, but Williams' second-in-command, Claire Williams, wants nearly four times that. Ferrari has, rejected that figure, allegedly and unsurprisingly. Should the two sides come to a compromise, German and Sahara Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg seems to be the popular choice to take the open Williams seat, Fox is reporting. It's unclear where Raikkonen would end up next. And with that, we consider the 2015 Formula 1 silly season officially open.

Ferrari design challenge looks for the supercar of 2040

Ferrari launched a design contest to imagine what one of its cars might look like in 2040. Some 50 schools entered from around the world, and now that list has been whittled down to four. The finalists are: the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Hongik University in Korea, Hochschule Pforzheim in Germany, and the ISD-Rubika in France. Each school was invited to prepare three designs and spent the last year preparing them for final evaluation. The total of 12 entries are presented here from multiple angles in the gallery above. They range from the realistic to the fantastic, and while some were rendered in black, silver, or white, naturally most were imagined in the marque's signature red. The point in showing them to you is that the public gets to vote for their favorite. The winner will be awarded the Premio Speciale by popular choice. The Gran Premio, however, will be selected by a jury that includes Sebastian Vettel, Paolo Pininfarina, and musician-collectors Jay Kay (frontman of Jamiroquai), and Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd fame). The winners will be named on January 15, so cast your vote now on the dedicated Facebook page. What will the Ferraris of 2040 be like? The Top Design School Challenge enters its final phase Maranello, 4 December 2015 – What seemed like the wildest science fiction in the days of Jules Verne has been more than surpassed by modern invention. Maybe in a quarter of a century's time, we'll be saying the same about a slew of present-day projects that endeavour to envisage the Ferraris of the future. We are talking, of course, about the 12 models to have reached the finals of the Ferrari Top Design School Challenge. Also run in 2005 and 2012, this is the third outing for a competition in which the world's most prestigious design institutes vie for supremacy. Around 50 schools were considered in the first round and this number was then whittled to eight before four third-level institutes (spread across three continents) were selected as finalists.