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Jock Clear, Lewis Hamilton's race engineer at Mercedes, moves to Ferrari

The HR office at the Ferrari Formula One team has been exceptionally busy this year, and the churn hasn't ceased. Just this month under new team principal Mauricio Arrivabene – the third team principal in 2014 – lead designer Nikolas Tombazis and engineering director Pat Fry were let go, and tire performance expert Hirohide Hamashima will leave the team at the end of the year. Now there's another batch of HR paperwork to be completed, but this is a new hire to join Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Gutierrez: Jock Clear, Lewis Hamilton's performance engineer this season at Mercedes AMG Petronas. Clear will take over Pat Fry's vacant role as head of engineering, and brings a Driver's World Championship pedigree with him, having helped Hamilton to his second title and Jacques Villeneuve to his sole title in 1997 with Williams. He hasn't joined the Scuderia yet, though; Ferrari is still negotiating with Mercedes to "secure his services as soon as possible." Clear will work in a totally revamped engineering department and report to technical director and ex-Lotus F1 man James Allison. The last time Ferrari went an entire season without a win was 1993. The team has attempted to hedge expectations for 2015, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne saying, "I think hopefully within the next 12 months we will remove all the baggage of uncertainty that is going to plague at least the initial phase of 2015." Hope springs yet, though: when Arrivabene was asked what he'd be happy with next year, he said, "two or three wins." News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Motorsports Ferrari F1

Glickenhaus' FIA championship-winning P4/5 Competizione comes home [w/video]

The sexy Ferrari P4/5 Competizione, a cross between the lightweight F430 Scuderia and the race-only F430 GT2 with special Pininfarina bodywork, spent some time in Europe notching a few race victories. But it finally has made its way back to the US and into owner Jim Glickenhaus' collection, where it met its sister car and inspiration, the original P4/5.
During its short-but-sweet two-year racing campaign, it competed in just two races but left a big impact. We'd call any lap of the Nürburgring that's under seven minutes a victory, but, with the help of a hybrid drivetrain, the P4/5C qualified for the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hours with a lap of 6:51. That's faster than any Ferrari-powered vehicle has ever gone around the 'Ring. The car then went on to win the EXP-1 class (for experimental vehicles), for a World Championship, and finished the race 12th overall in a field of 170 cars. Not bad at all.
For those who haven't kept up on the P4/5C, the hybrid powertrain was introduced to the one-off racecar for 2012 after it had attempted the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2011 with negligible results. A Ferrari 4.0-liter V8 was joined by a Formula One-style Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), good for a combined 563 horsepower.

Ferrari 250 GT California could be your day off for $8 million

Vintage Ferraris consistently top the list of the most expensive cars ever sold. In private treaty sales, the 250 GTO is king, but even at public auctions, it's the horses that prance the highest. After the Mercedes W196 grand prix racer that set the world record this past July at nearly $30 million, the list of eight-figure sales is populated almost entirely by Ferraris: a 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder for $27.5 million, the pair of '57 Testa Rossas that sold separately a few years ago for $17 and $13 million apiece, the 250 LM recently went for over $14 million and the 250 GT SWB California Spider that sold in 2008 for $11 million.
Now RM Auctions has another California - this time a long-wheelbase model - on consignment for its upcoming sales in Arizona, where it is expected to fetch between $7 and $9 million. The 11th of only 50 made, chassis number 1055 GT features matching numbers, in red over black with those highly-coveted covered headlamps from the factory. It was delivered new in 1958 to Texas and was owned by some prominent Ferrari collectors and historians across the United States.
It underwent a comprehensive restoration in 1994 before taking the top prize in its class at the Cavallino Classic and has made the rounds of numerous other concours. It's spent the last few years in northern Europe and is now being put up for auction. "It is so choice," as our childhood friend Ferris would say. "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." Check it out in the gallery of achingly gorgeous photos above and the details in the auction listing below.