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Ferrari confirms Vettel in, Alonso out

For the past several months, a big shift on the Formula One grid has been rumored for next season, but with a big piece of the puzzle now confirmed, much of the speculation can end. Ferrari has announced that it is parting company with Fernando Alonso and bringing in Sebastian Vettel to take his place. The move is a big one for both drivers – each multiple World Champions in their own right – who have lead their respective teams for half a decade now, Alonso coming second in the championship three times with Ferrari, and Vettel having scored four consecutive titles with Red Bull. Vettel has long been a personal protege of former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, having won his first grand prix in a Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso at Monza in 2008. Now confirmed by the Scuderia for a three-year deal, Vettel will be driving next season alongside Kimi Raikkonen, who won the title for Ferrari in 2007. That was the same year in which Alonso last drove for McLaren, the team for which he's all but confirmed to be driving next season. The announcement from Woking reportedly hinges on the team's decision over who will drive alongside him, between Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen or another driver altogether. The confirmation from Ferrari does, however, put to rest wild rumors that the series would move to three-car teams and that Maranello would field Alonso as well as Vettel and Raikkonen. Welcome Sebastian – Vettel and Raikkonen 2015 driver pairing Maranello, 20 November 2014 – Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement of three years duration with Sebastian Vettel, who will drive for the team as from the 2015 season. The driver line-up next season will consist of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. "Scuderia Ferrari has decided to put its faith in the youngest multiple champion in the history of Formula 1" – commented Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal, Marco Mattiacci. "In Formula 1 terms, Sebastian Vettel is a unique combination of youthfulness and experience and he brings with him that sense of team spirit which will prove invaluable when, together with Kimi, they tackle the challenges awaiting us, as we aim to be front runners again as soon as possible.

Ferrari going with turbo V8s, hybrid V12s

More for less – that's what automakers are striving for: more output with less fuel. For some that means downsizing and employing turbochargers. For others, it means going hybrid. With its latest models, Ferrari has embraced both – or rather, either – but don't expect its twelve-cylinder engines to get a set of snails, or its V8s to get an electric assist. The latest intel paints a picture of Ferrari going two different routes. As it is, the company offers (much like it has for the past several decades) both V8 and V12 supercars, and it's bringing both types into the modern era, but in different ways. As demonstrated with the California T and 488 GTB, Maranello's eight-cylinder models will shrink in capacity but add turbochargers to increase their output while decreasing their fuel consumption. Meanwhile the engine in the LaFerrari showcases the direction in which its twelve-cylinder models will go: hybrid V12 powertrains. "There will be no turbos on our V12s," an unnamed source reportedly told Autocar. "Expect instead to see 48-volt systems on the next generation." With the eight-cylinder models already having adopted their turbochargers, that means we can expect the replacements for the FF all-wheel-drive shooting brake and F12 Berlinetta two-seater to go hybrid in their next iteration. We'd expect the former to arrive first, with the hybrid F12 to arrive sometime thereafter. The company first toyed with the prospect of a hybrid twelve with the 599 HY-KERS concept showcased at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The first production application for the hybrid system was on LaFerrari, but of course the Scuderia developed a much smaller 1.6-liter V6 that's both turbocharged and electric-assisted for Formula One. Related Video:

Ford GT40 makes historic return to racing at Goodwood

Is there a more iconic, American racecar than the Ford GT40? That may be a discussion for another day (although by all means, tell us how wrong we are in Comments), but this video of heaps of GT40s running in the Goodwood Revival races certainly has us thinking that Ford's Ferrari-killer might just be the best racer the Land Of The Free and Home Of The Brave has ever come up with.
That's completely ignoring the fact that the GT40 was largely developed by Brits using American money, but that's besides the point (there was also a rather brash Texan, who had a big role later in development). The resulting vehicle was dominant, besting the cars of Il Commendatore from 1966 to 1969, although it should be noted that Ford's GT40 was unable to beat Ferrari in its first two Le Mans outings in 1964 and 1965.
Those four years of dominance, which started with Ford sweeping the podium, were enough to establish the GT40's legend. And now, here we are almost 50 years later, celebrating the mid-engined monsters at Goodwood, in their first ever one-make race. Take a look below for the entire video.