2003 Ferrari 456m Gt~6 Speed~daytona Seats~scuderia Shields~v12~clean Carfax on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ferrari delivers one-off F12 SP America in New York

Ferrari's Special Projects division has apparently been keeping busy. We're sure that we don't even see half of the special one-offs Maranello's customer skunkworks unit produces, but we've been seeing quite a few lately.
The last one that popped up on our radar screens was the F12 TRS revealed at the recent Ferrari Cavalcade in Sicily, and now it seems that the Prancing Horse marque has delivered another. It's similarly based on the F12 Berlinetta, but instead of taking its inspiration from the 250 Testa Rossa with a unique roadster body-style, the F12 SP America pictured here seems to pay stylistic tribute to the 250 GTO - evident in the trio of nostrils in the nose, the unique side vents, the slates behind the windows and the restyled rear haunches that meld into an integrated rear spoiler.
This unique take of the F12 was delivered to its assuredly wealthy commissioner by Wide World Ferrari Maserati in Spring Valley, NY, which tells you as much as the chosen model name that this particular one-off is staying right here in the United States.

F1 Race recap: 2016 Russian Grand Prix same as it ever was

The three-year-old Sochi Autodrom that hosts the Russian Grand Prix combines beautiful scenery with a hallmark turn 3, a tricky turn 13, and two long DRS zones. So far, however, those haven't added up to exciting races after the first lap. Despite an in-race issue with his car's MGU-K, Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg aced the weekend with his first career grand slam: pole position, fastest lap of the race, leading every lap, and victory. Behind him, not much happened on the leaderboard after an incident-filled opening lap. The drama started at turns 2 and 3. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel lined up in seventh on the grid because of a five-place gearbox penalty, Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat sat next to him in eighth. Kvyat hit the back of Vettel's Ferrari in the braking zone for Turn 2, shoving Vettel into Daniel Ricciardo – Kvyat's teammate. Kyvat then clobbered the back of Vettel's car at the entry to Turn 3, spinning the German into the wall and out of the race. Kvyat probably regrets saying before the race that he would show Vettel "no mercy" on the first lap. At the back of the grid at Turn 2, Haas F1's Esteban Gutierrez hit Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Manor's Rio Haryanto. Gutierrez continued, both the Force India and the Manor retired. A brief Virtual Safety Car period ensued, then the actual Safety Car emerged for three laps while marshals cleaned up the track. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg nailed the restart and took off for the rest of the race. Teammate Lewis Hamilton battled his own gremlins all weekend but still finished second, 25 seconds behind Rosberg. During the final qualifying session on Saturday Hamilton's car suffered the same MGU-H failure as in China two weeks ago. The problem relegated him to tenth on the grid. In the race, Hamilton fought his way to second place by Lap 19 out of 53 laps and began closing the 13-second gap to Rosberg. On Lap 37, the gap now under eight seconds, Mercedes told Hamilton his car had a water pressure issue. The malfunction forced the Briton to manage his race and settle for second. Afterward, Hamilton said he was certain he could have won if not for the malfunction. The rest of the top ten barely changed throughout the contest. The first five positions on Lap 21 crossed the finish line in that order 32 laps later. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took the final podium position ahead of the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa.

Ferrari F12 races Air Malta A320 jet

Air Malta recently worked up a little stunt that pitted an Airbus A320 against a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta in a drag race to raise funds for charity. It's easy to forget just how quick something the size of a jetliner can be, but watching the video below shows us just where the big passenger aircraft stands when it comes to sprinting down a runway. We won't spoil the clip for you, you'll just have to check out the showdown below.
Air Malta says it raised over 178,820 euro with the stunt, which is around $230,000. That's despite the fact that intermittent rain showers kept crowds away. Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton even stopped by to say "Hi" to the crowds. He wasn't piloting the F12, however. Check out the video below for yourself.