2007 Ferrari F430 Spider. 6300 Miles. Loaded With Options. San Diego on 2040-cars

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LaFerrari trading at double its list price

If you've been looking at the seven-figure price tags (plus or minus) on the latest batch of hypercars, and wondering how their manufacturers could possibly charge that much, consider that their predecessors typically traded at well above their list price as it is. The Ferrari Enzo, for example, listed for "only" $650k, but with production limited to 349 units, demand far outstripped supply, driving the mark-up into seven-figures. In fact Enzos are still selling for a million or more at auction. Surely Ferrari deserves a piece of that action itself, at least as much as the speculators... hence the $1.7 million sticker price on its successor LaFerrari.
Here's the thing, though: according to the latest reports, buyers are paying that much again just for the privilege of getting their hands on a LaFerrari. In other words, they're paying double the already sky-high asking price: as much as $3.4 million to put it in the same ballpark as the Lamborghini Veneno (whose production was even more limited) and the latest Legend edition of the Bugatti Veyron Vitesse roadster.
The story gets a bit more sane with its rivals, though: according to the analysis reported by Oracle Finance, the McLaren P1 is commanding "only" a $500k premium over list, and the Porsche 918 Spyder "just" $335k extra. However even less expensive new models from high-end automakers like the Lamborghini Huracán and Porsche Macan are reportedly commanding $50k and $10k premiums, respectively.

Chris Harris does road and track work in the LaFerrari

Yes, we know, we just saw Chris Harris smoking it up around Anglesey Circuit in a Porsche 911 GT3 and a Ferrari 458 Speciale, and here he is again. But this is Harris in one of the (three!) era-defining supercars, and we simply can't miss that. Harris celebrates every aspect of the Ferrari LaFerrari but one - its name - praising it for "immediate" thrust, a "very pointy" front end, and the sound at 9,000 revs. Even if you watched without words, his face tells tales, sometimes intense, sometimes agog, and at least once, with mouth agape at 9:44, looking like he's doing something other than driving a car. His final verdict is that the LaFerrari "is in a class of two," but beats all. Take 15 minutes of your day to enjoy the video and discover the LaFerrari's only competitor, as well as "a little oversteer." In slow motion, naturally.

2016 Malaysian Grand Prix recap: Surprises and missed opportunities

Mercedes-AMG Petronas pilot Lewis Hamilton drove so well in the run-up to the Malaysian Grand Prix that he said before the race, "Honestly, I don't feel anything is going to stop us." On Sunday, the Sepang race showed what it thought of plans and predictions. Heading into the right-hand Turn 1, Sebastian Vettel practically recreated the dust-up at the Belgian Grand Prix three races ago. When Mercedes' Nico Rosberg swept across from the outside line toward the apex, Red Bull's Max Verstappen had to jink right to avoid, touching Vettel's Ferrari on the inside. Vettel speared straight on and hit Rosberg. Vettel's left front suspension broke, ending his race. Rosberg spun and got moving again, but at the back of the pack. That appeared to put Hamilton on a clear run to the checkered flag. His car looked perfect, his pace was perfect, he easily kept Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen behind. A result that would have seen Hamilton retake control of the Driver's Championship – at Petronas' home race – got crushed on Lap 41 when Hamilton's engine blew down the main straight. That put Ricciardo in the lead, followed closely by his teammate. Just two laps before Hamilton's exit, Ricciardo and Verstappen had battled for second place with some of the best driving we've seen all season. Ricciardo drove as if exorcising the demons of missed opportunities earlier in the year, keeping the young Dutchman behind. The two Red Bulls took the flag fifteen laps later in that order, clocking the first one-two finish for a team other than Mercedes since 2014. It's Red Bull's first one-two since Brazil 2013, when Vettel and Mark Weber took the top steps at the last race of the V8 era. Rosberg recovered to take third in spite of a ten-second penalty for an optimistic pass on Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn crossed the line 12 seconds later, followed by Valtteri Bottas in the Williams and Sergio Perez in the Force India. In another Belgium repeat, Fernando Alonso drove from the back of the grid to finish seventh. Nico Hulkenberg secured eighth, Jenson Button ninth for McLaren in his 300th grand prix, and rookie Jolyon Palmer scored his first point of the season for Renault in tenth. The issue to trump all others from now until next week's Japanese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton's terrible luck with engines. Power unit gremlins earlier this season helped drop the Brit to 43 points behind Rosberg after the Russian Grand Prix.