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Ferrari builds one-off hybrid F12 TRS roadster

When Ferrari makes an open-top version of one of its V12 super-GTs, it typically comes in particularly low production numbers. Maranello only made 448 examples of the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina, 559 of the 575 Superamerica and 599 units of the 599 SA Aperta. What we have here, however, is not just the first F12 roadster we've seen yet, but also the most exclusive.
Called the F12 TRS, it's obviously based on the F12 Berlinetta, but with some key modifications. Not the least of which is the open-top body-style (which may or may not have a folding roof mechanism of some kind), coupled with some unique bodywork like a cowled rear deck and reshaped hood. But the TRS (which we can only assume is some tribute to the 250 Testa Rossa) is also said to pack an F1-derived KERS hybrid assist, presumably similar to the one in the LaFerrari - or more poignantly, in the 599 HY-KERS concept - to give the 6.3-liter V12 even more juice than the prodigious 730 horsepower it produces in stock Berlinetta form.
The vehicle, apparently spotted in the garage at the company's Fiorano test track, appears to be a one-off built by Ferrari's Special Projects division for one discerning and evidently very wealthy customer who is said to have paid $4.2 million for the privilege.

2015 Spanish F1 Grand Prix makes its Deutsche mark

The first race of the European Formula One season inaugurates the second phase of the Championship. Teams overhaul their cars with the big updates they've been working on since Australia, and at the end of The Battle of Spain we find out how the positions on the field have changed. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg brought a big update to his psychology, straight-up beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to take his first pole position of the season. Mercedes owns the front row and Ferrari maintains its status as primary challenger, Sebastian Vettel lining up in third. Williams proved it's been hitting the books to do better in class, though, Valtteri Bottas slotting into fourth. And Toro Rosso's visit to a track that rewards strong aero rewarded them with the best team grid position since the Italian Grand Prix in 2008: Carlos Sainz secured fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth. Kimi Raikkonen's bout of Saturday woes – it seems the Finn is always handicapped by lots of tiny issues – continued in Barcelona with one of his sets of prime tires getting cooked by malfunctioning tire warmers. He recovered well enough to take seventh on the grid, but he's got some strong competition ahead of him. He led three other drivers in the Continuous Issues department, Daniil Kvyat unable to wrestle his Infiniti Red Bull Racing higher than eighth, Williams driver Felipe Massa getting it wrong in Turn 3 to fall five places behind his teammate Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull enduring another engine change and sloppy car behavior to get tenth. And while it turned out to be a steady race a little rough around the edges, the positions on the battlefield just might have changed. A little. Of the 66 laps in the race we might have seen Rosberg for three of them – maybe. The German got a smashing start, had a clear lead into Turn 1, and after that we checked in occasionally during his two pit stops and again at the checkered flag. He owned the entire weekend the way we're used to seeing his teammate do, and the cameras left him alone to run his race. No one got within seven seconds of him during the first third, and as the pit stop strategies played out that cushion grew. He finished seventeen seconds ahead of Hamilton, and 45 seconds ahead of third-placed Vettel. Hamilton, on the back foot all three days, stumbled out of the gate.

Race Recap: Belgian Grand Prix is new skirmishes, same war [spoilers]

It's been four weeks since we last saw a Formula One race, when Lewis Hamilton improbably put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas in P1 in Hungary. Even more improbably, he held onto the first spot at the finish of the race, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in the Lotus and Sebastian Vettel in the Infiniti Red Bull.
Resuming the season at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit this weekend, Hamilton picked up his recent - and just as improbable - pole-setting form by putting the Mercedes in P1 for the fourth time in a row. The effort came during a qualifying session visited by intermittent rains and dry spells, his 54th trip to the front of the pack, tying Niki Lauda.
But neither the fireworks and surprises, the mid-field full of backmarkers, nor the tire strategies and timing choices changed the mission for the drivers in with a chance at the title: finish in front of Vettel.