The honor of being the final round of the Formula 1 Grand Prix has been held in Brazil recently, But next year’s calendar shifts Brazil to the penultimate round, and puts the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi at their brand new track. F1 officials and some lucky drivers got a chance to see the track where next year’s championship will be decided, and as one might expect from something out of the Middle East, it’s got everything you could want and then some. Read the rest of this entry »
Now that Lewis Hamilton has secured the Formula One championship, supercar fans around the world are asking when he’ll get his hands on that rare McLaren F1 LM. The incredibly valuable supercar – initially reported at $4 million but now apparently worth closer to 8 – was promised to the budding young driver if he won the title. However, the condition was that he win both the drivers title and, together with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, lock up the constructors’ title for the team, as well. Although he won the drivers’ championship, the constructors’ crown went to arch-rivals Ferrari, but since McLaren chief Ron Dennis is such a good sport, he’s renegotiated the terms.
If Hamilton manages to repeat his title victory with a hat-trick – that is, take another two championships – he’ll get his hands on the bright orange supercar. That’s quite a challenge, but Dennis called it a “small price to pay for three world championships.” Indeed, but by then McLaren will have a whole slew of supercars on the market for Lewis to choose from. In the meantime, he’d better keep his head down and focus on the prize.
As anyone with a less-than-enthusiastic spouse can attest, getting your better half in the passenger seat for a hard flogging around the track takes the kind of intestinal fortitude normally reserved for Lutz’s PR team. Apparently, it doesn’t get any easier even if you’ve got some Formula One experience.
Hit the jump to watch former F1 ace Riccardo Patrese take his rather attractive wife for a Sunday spin in a Honda Civic Type-R, complete with plenty of Italian expletives and one positively hilarious “No no no no NO NO NO NO!” Read the rest of this entry »
So for those drivers lucky enough to have gotten their hands on a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, a little bit of bad news for you. As Ferrari states, its most likely if you actually bought a 612 Scaglietti, you probably opted for the Ferrari automated manual F1 gearbox. With the faster-than-Schumacher shifts, the F1transmission can make just about anyone feel like a genuine F1 driver. Unfortunately, the tranny can also leave you stranded on the side of the road if heat build-up triggers the clutch sensor.
Thus, Ferrari has an official recall of every 612 Scaglietti that could be affected by this sensitive F1 gearbox. Unlike a Ford F150 pickup, this recall of the 2005-2007 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti only affects 366 vehicles to be recalled to replace this sensor as well as a related cable holder and magnet that might cause difficult shifting or even complete inoperation. If you have one of these beauties in your garage, most likely you will be hearing from your dealer shortly. But for the proactive Ferrari owners, you can check out the official recall notice from the NHTSA after the jump.
