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Sebastian Vettel gets to work at Fiorano [w/videos]

He wore a BMW Sauber uniform for his grand prix debut, the colors of Scuderia Toro Rosso for his first win and the Red Bull Racing jumpsuit for his four consecutive world titles. But with the 2014 Formula One season now behind him, Sebastian Vettel is now officially a Ferrari man, and he donned scarlet for the first time this past weekend when he got down to work in Maranello. Aside from meeting with the company's new chairman Sergio Marchionne, the Scuderia's new principal Maurizio Arrivabene and a team of race engineers, Vettel took the F2012 – similar if not the very same one in which his predecessor Fernando Alonso won the Malaysian, European and German grands prix – out onto the company's private test track. He completed a solid 100 laps around Fiorano on Saturday and undertook long sessions driving the virtual F14 T on the sumulator. "It's been a fantastic day to come here," Vettel said of his first day with the team. "The possibility to drive the car and get to know the team was a unique experience.... I'm very much looking forward to the challenge that we took on for the next years." Scope out the photos of Vettel in red in the gallery above and the footage from his first session at Fiorano and first visit to Maranello in the videos below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Sebastian gets down to business in Fiorano Maranello, 2 December – Last Saturday, Sebastian Vettel did his first laps as a Scuderia Ferrari driver, at the wheel of an F2012, at the Fiorano track. The German did around a hundred laps and it wasn't just a case of getting to know the team, the track and the car's systems: after a few cautious runs, he began to push and enjoy himself, even though the damp track meant conditions were tricky with less than optimal grip. In this video, you can see some spectacular highlights from Sebastian's run, from which it's clear that he is a determined character who really can't wait to get down to work alongside Kimi and the team to get the Scuderia back to the top again. ### Vettel: "A special feeling" Maranello, 1 December – This was the first weekend as a Scuderia Ferrari driver for Sebastian Vettel, who has been at Maranello from Saturday until today and has begun his work ahead of the new season.

Ferrari testing 458 successor in the snow?

It may not seem so long ago that Ferrari introduced the 458 Italia. But it's been on the market a solid 5 years since its launch in 2009, which makes it not only the oldest model in the company's lineup, but one of the oldest in its segment, the Lamborghini Huracan and McLaren 650S just having been launched in the past couple of months. So while a solitary Ferrari playing in the snow might otherwise seem like little more than an unlikely place for it to be, its chronology suggests the crew from Maranello could be up to something more.
The white 458 captured by our spy photographers in Northern Sweden appears to have something going on around its wheel arches. Aside from the panel gap that's taped up between the quarter panel and rear fender in front of the rear wheel arch, there appear to be some modifications around the front wheel arch. Just what they're for, we don't know, but their presence suggests something's up.
The test mule pictured here could be simply testing some new components, for whatever application, but if this is indeed a prototype for the 458's replacement, we'll probably start seeing more of these from here on in before the finished product comes around within the next couple of years - by which time the 458 will be a good seven years old, longer than the F430 or 360 Modena before it were on the market.

2016 Italian Grand Prix race recap

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is called the Temple of Power. Furthermore, the winning driver in Italy started on pole in 13 of the last 16 years, and only one driver in that time has won the Italian GP from behind the front row of the grid: Rubens Barrichello in 2002 and 2009. By this point in the current Formula 1 season (era?) we know what it means when a track emphasizes both power and pole position: Mercedes-AMG Petronas. The Silver Arrows locked out the front row with Lewis Hamilton on pole. A poor start prevented the Briton from capitalizing on the advantage, so teammate Nico Rosberg and four other drivers swept by him before the end of the second turn. Mercedes would later say a clutch issue caused Hamilton's botched start, but that didn't help the man who'd just fallen to sixth place. Rosberg got about two laps of television coverage on his way to an unbothered victory ahead of Hamilton. Ferrari made Hamilton's second-place finish easier by sticking to a two-stop strategy; both Mercedes drivers pitted once. We aren't sure why Ferrari didn't at least attempt a one-stopper once Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had been gifted second and third on track. A pit stop took about 23 seconds from entry to exit and Vettel finished third, six seconds behind Hamilton. Raikkonen finished fourth, another seven seconds behind Vettel. Perhaps the Scuderia's tire usage wouldn't allow longer stints, but we'll never know. Daniel Ricciardo wielded his Red Bull like a scalpel to make an impeccable pass on Valtteri Bottas in the Williams and take fifth place. Ricciardo, trailing another Italian province behind, somehow closed the gap on Bottas in just the braking zone of Turn 1, pulling alongside near the apex without locking a wheel on entry nor running wide on exit. Bottas claimed sixth ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez in the Force India, Felipe Massa in the second Williams, and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India sealing the top ten. Monza did spring a few on-track surprises. Esteban Gutierrez drove Haas F1 into Q3 for the first time this season, the Mexican setting the sixth-best time in Q2. Manor Racing planned for Monza all season, Pascal Wehrlein repaying the effort by qualifying 13th. Fernando Alonso pitted his McLaren on Lap 50 of the 53-lap race for a set of super soft Pirellis, then set the fastest lap. It's Honda's first fastest lap since 1992. The biggest moments happened off the track.