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Despite early struggles, Ferrari F1 still has Mercedes in its sights

It would be an understatement to say that Ferrari has not had the opening to the 2016 Formula 1 season that it had hoped for. Having come in to the new campaign brazen about wanting a winning start, that Mercedes has taken all the poles and all race victories so far has come as a disappointment. There have been other headaches too – including reliability problems for both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, and of course the points lost with the China/Russia incidents with Daniil Kvyat. But perhaps of more concern is that the trend of performance has not pointed towards a narrowing of the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari – as the Silver Arrows advantage seemed greater than it had been any point this season in Russia. So with the results against it, and it seemingly having no response in pace terms, the cynics are already suggesting that it is game over for Ferrari's 2016 title ambitions. But that is not how Maranello itself sees the situation: and it still has reason to believe not only that there is plenty to play for this season: but that it can take the fight to Mercedes. Pressure game Ferrari is well aware that it needs to quickly make up lost ground in both championship standings (Mercedes has more than double its point haul) and pace terms. But rather than be downbeat about what has happened, team principal Maurizio Arrivabene still senses opportunities: especially with Mercedes appearing to be on the edge in reliability terms. And it this area that he thinks needs to be exploited to give Ferrari the opening it needs. "If you have before you a team that has won four races out of four, you cannot but take note that they are very strong," he said after the Russian Grand Prix. "But if we look at what happened to [Lewis] Hamilton [with engine problems in qualifying], we see that they also have had reliability problems. "We must put pressure on them. That is our first goal. "All their problems have happened on a single car, while ours have happened on both. But there are still 17 races to go, that is something worth emphasising, so there time to make up the difference." Power battle Ferrari introduced an upgraded engine at the Russian Grand Prix that it hoped would lift it closer to Mercedes in the power stakes. But the weekend appeared to show that wasn't the case, with Mercedes' advantage on the Sochi circuit – the fourth most power-sensitive venue on the calendar – appearing bigger than ever.

LaFerrari XX coming early next year with F1 engine

With the embargo up on early reviews, the repetitively named Ferrari LaFerrari has become the supercar du jour. It has already been put through its paces by Top Gear and Evo. However, we know that Ferrari isn't done with development of its current halo model just yet. News continues to leak out about the even more hardcore LaFerrari XX track car.
Ferrari already confirmed directly to Autoblog that the XX is under development. There are even spy photos of it testing at the Nürburgring (pictured above). It reportedly clocked an astonishingly fast six-minute, 35-second lap at the historic track. The latest scuttlebutt about the track-focused supercar, according to Top Gear, is that it ditches standard car's hybrid 6.3-liter V12 engine with a combined output of 949 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque in favor of a Formula One-derived V6 turbo hybrid. That would be a huge change but would likely cut weight. The more insane LaFerrari could debut as soon as January or February of next year.
Ferrari says it's difficult to make the XX accelerate much quicker than a standard LaFerrari, but slick tires, revised suspension and aero changes should cut lap times. A version that doesn't have to worry about road car laws and just focuses on being fast could be truly mental.

Driver, track worker survive horrific Ferrari 458 crash at Suzuka

Two people are lucky to be alive after a brutal crash during a recent Ferrari 458 Challenge event in Japan. Driver Shigeru Terajima lost control of his machine on the Suzuka Circuit start/finish straight, left the course at nearly 200 miles per hour and struck the inside wall where a corner worker was standing and monitoring the race. The 458 immediately disintegrated, sending bits of carbon fiber bodywork, suspension components, wheels and tires scattering into the infield and across the race course. The passenger cell spun through the air before coming to a stop on its roof.
Miraculously, both Terajima and the corner worker survived the incident. While the driver was transported to a local hospital in serious condition, he's expected to make a full recovery. The track worker, meanwhile, saw the incident coming and dove out of harm's way at the last possible moment, saving him from the brunt of the impact. You can watch an observer's frightening footage of the Ferrari crash by scrolling below.