Ferrari Boss Dismisses McLaren’s Carbonfiber Chassis, Says Maranello will focus on Hybrid Tech

In an interview with CAR magazine, Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari’s CEO who is pictured above with F1 driver Felipe Massa, talked about many things – from rivals to the press, and of course, Maranello’s future plans.

When asked about recent tests conducted between Ferrari’s own 458 Italia and its new rival, the McLaren MP4-12C, Felisa said that he was more than pleased, since the 458 came out on top.

What made him happier is the fact that the test were performed by British car journalists who tend to favor their home products as, in his own words, “only you British can find a certain level of performance at Aston Martin!”.

The Ferrari boss also said that McLaren's decision to use a carbonfiber chassis is not practical for models that are produced in relatively big numbers as it increases the cost and reduces production rate. Felisa added that Ferrari could produce an aluminum chassis that is as light as a carbonfiber, but will only use the latter in top-of-the-line exotics like the Enzo’s replacement.

Felisa revealed that the “family look” adopted by most carmakers is a no-no for Ferrari: “All the other brands have a way in which they use in a different shape, stretching or enlarging. Our rule is not to use that. You can have some iconic touches from previews models, but we don’t like to have a family feel.”

Having already presented a hybrid project in the form of the 599 HY-KERS concept, Ferrari’s CEO admits that strict emissions regulations force the carmaker to invest heavily in hybrid technology, drawing from its F1 experience but not relying solely on it.

Moreover, hybrid technology will allow Ferrari to continue developing V12 engines as, according to Felisa, even a V12’s CO2 emissions can drop to 200 g/km: “The California emits 299 g/km. If you do the hybrid 12m you can go lower than the V8”, he concluded.

Story reference: CAR Magazine

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Then we take Milan: McLaren Opens First Dealership in Ferrari's Home Turf

McLaren’s expansion strategy is running like clockwork. After the flagship showroom in London’s Hyde Park, the British company opened two more retail shops in Germany, in Dusseldorf and Hamburg just before the local Formula 1 Grand Prix. Now, McLaren has landed in Italy.
On Thursday, McLaren opened its first showroom in the city of Milan at an event hosted by the company’s managing director Anthony Sheriff and featuring F1’s 2009 world champion, and current McLaren driver, Jenson Button as well as McLaren’s CEO, Martin Whitmarsh.
“The opening of McLaren Milan marks a significant point in the development of McLaren Automotive” said Sheriff. “My vision for this company is to design and build the most innovative, efficient and high performance sports cars in the world.”
The Milan showroom is the only one planned for Italy and just one of 35 worldwide dearlerships that will sell and provide customer care for McLaren’s supercar, the MP4-12C. At least for the time being, since the company is developing a new range of models to cover the entire supercar segment and challenge Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.
Of course, McLaren’s CEO didn’t miss the opportunity to rival the local opposition in its home ground: “The MP4-12C is unlike other sports cars that buyers in the Italian market are familiar with.” Wonder whom he might be referring to…

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Formula 1: Italian GP Qualifying Results

McLaren may have tried to secure some publicity by opening its only Italian showroom in Milan just before the local GP, but on the track, it was Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel who captured the spotlight with his 10th pole position of the year in Monza.

Vettel was almost half a second faster than Lewis Hamilton who beat his teammate, Jenson Button, by a mere 0.052 seconds. The Tifosi had to be content with Fernando Alonso’s fourth place –not a bad result, if you consider that he is one place ahead of the second Red Bull of Mark Webber.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa will start from sixth position, ahead of Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and the two Mercedes’ of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton, completes the top ten of the starting grid with the second Renault.

The race, which is the last Grand Prix in Europe for 2011 since Formula 1 moves to Asia for the next five races before the season finale at Brazil, starts on Sunday at 12:00 GMT.

Via Espn

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McLaren Announces New Special Operations Customizing Division [with Video]

If you are one of the few lucky people in this world to be able afford an MP4-12C, but you want the supercar to differ from the one parked in the garage of your obviously wealthy neighbor, the new Special Operations division of McLaren Automotive has a solution.

The new division, which was announced at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance show, aims to create bespoke versions in order to satisfy customer needs for differentiation.

The car on display had a satin matte “Volcano Orange” paint with a black roof, “diamond cut” finish alloy wheels with black inners, and plenty of carbon fibre applied on the sills, the steering wheel, the front wheel arches, the engine cover vents, the rear deck vent and the wiper covers. Now, that’ a lot of carbon…

If orange is not your style, perhaps you will find the chrome-coated MP4-12C painted in the same lightweight AkzoNobel Sikkens’ color used exclusively on McLaren’s Formula 1 cars more appealing.

Unfortunately, even customizing has its limits: this drag-minimizing paint will not be available on the Special Operations catalogue and will solely adorn Hamilton’s and Button’s cars.

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