Autoblog

Perhaps this is Ferrari's answer to the FIA's threat to move to standardized engines: standardized building blocks! What could be more fair than to have every team start out with their own huge package of LEGOs? The drivetrain could remain unique or might even be a LEGO V8, but each team would get a color-specific mega-pack of blocks to build their own bodywork. All parts must be used, but how you place them is up to you. The resulting cars would have the aerodynamics of a brick so maybe safety would improve as speeds were reduced. Drivers would also have to slow considerably into turns, as lateral g's generated by modern F1 cars can easily exceed block lock integrity at will. None of this is true or has anything to do with the car in the photos, but this is far more interesting than reading the true story about some uber-geek who built a LEGO F1 car in Amsterdam to celebrate the "LEGO World" event. While we love the LEGO Mustang, Camaro, Batmobile, "Death Proof" Nova et al that we've shown you before, we have to admit that a full-size LEGO car is a step above. 80,000 bricks and about $20,000 later, this guy has a Ferrari F1 car of his own. And he doesn't have to cut open his basement wall to remove it.


[Source: 0-60mag]

Despite being more than three weeks away from the first Formula 1 race of the 2008 season, Jarno Trulli has already predicted that Ferrari will win the 2008 championship. After testing in the Toyota alongside Ferrari in Bahrain, Trulli declared that "the championship already looks over to me before it has started." The F2008 was noticeably quicker than the competition, posting lap times half a second quicker than even McLaren. Meanwhile, Trulli seemed depressed about the Toyota TF108, saying that it was "unrealistic to talk about podiums."

[Source: F1-Live.com]

Click on the images to view in high resolution

With its principal rival McLaren scheduled to follow tomorrow, and the others (accept for Williams) in the coming days and weeks, Ferrari kicked off the unveilings of the 2008 F1 cars when it took the wraps off its new F2008 today in Italy.

If you're thinking that the F2008 looks a lot like the F2007 it's replacing, you're not very far off. Aside from the fact that most F1 cars look the same to the untrained eye, rather than go with a completely new package like they did last year, Ferrari's racing engineers and designers opted to go for an evolution of the F2007 with the new car, code-named Project 659.

Despite the constantly-evolving technology in F1, the F2008 is actually heavier than last year's car, due to new regulations coming into play for the upcoming season that include the elimination of traction control, a new standardized ECU and additional safety structure. While the aerodynamic package has been significantly revised, Ferrari has been quick as ever to point out that all those wings and spoilers will be significantly revised again before the car begins its campaign to defend its world titles at the Australian Grand Prix in March.

The F2008 is scheduled to hit the track for the first time tomorrow at the company's private Fiorano test facility in Maranello. For more images, check out the gallery below. For those interested in the technical details, we've got the full press release after the jump.

[Source: Ferrari]

Ferrari F2007

After 60 years, Scuderia Ferrari still hasn't gotten tired of getting a head start over its rivals. This time, the team has confirmed that the car it will be campaigning next season will be unveiled within a couple weeks' time on January 6.

The early launch date, which was leaked first by Kimi Raikkonen and then confirmed by president Luca di Montezemolo and CEO Jean Todt, places Ferrari as the first F1 team to unveil its car in the new year. Toyota will be unveiling its car on January 10, BMW Sauber on January 14, Honda on January 29 and Renault on January 31. The remaining teams, including Williams, Red Bull, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Force India and Super Aguri, are expected to show their cars later on. Following the much hyped spy scandal, McLaren is opting to forego the festivities of a glitzy unveiling for its 2008 car.

With the F2008, Ferrari is hoping to repeat this past year's performance by reclaiming the driver's and constructor's titles. The car is expected to be an evolution of the F2007 (pictured above), which was hailed as a revolutionary design.

[Source: Inside Line]