Ferrari F80 is a $4 million race car built for the road

Ferrari took the wraps off its latest hypercar, the Ferrari F80, last Thursday. The F80 leverages the Italian brand's racing experience in Le Mans and Formula 1 to deliver top performance in the hands of a privileged few. While the $4 million price tag is eye-popping, the F80 doesn't qualify for superlatives in any particular respect. The main selling point is the badge and the passion that comes with it. Ferrari plans to produce only 799 F80s.

The F80 is powered by a hybrid three-liter V6 engine, an enlarged version of the configuration Known to F1 fans. The hypercar even uses the same energy recovery technology as its Grand Prix machines. The F80's engine produces an impressive 1,183 hp, of which 887 hp comes from combustion and 297 hp comes from electric drive.

Continuing the F1-inspired trend, The F80's asymmetrical chassis is made from the same carbon fiber as Ferrari's racing cars. The machine has a dry weight of 3362 pounds. The interior also suggests that the hypercar was originally intended as a pure single-seater before a passenger seat was added. Gianmaria Fulgenzi, Ferrari's Chief Product Development Officer, told Wired:

“We are at the top. Thanks to integration and software, we are able to push the boundaries, create a new red line, so to speak. The aerodynamics, the control of the slip angles, the acceleration… it's a car that you can push to the limit. To your personal limits. You immediately feel everything that is happening. The software plays a key role, but people don't notice it. Instead, you feel like you've been driving the car for a long time. It becomes a part of you.”

The F80 combines form and function. The hypercar car shares many of its styling elements the 499P that won at Le Mans. These similarities are more than superficial, as the F80 also features a similar underfloor front wing. The drivetrain is slightly sloped to make room for a flat floor to support the F80's ground effect elements. Paired with an active rear wing, the hypercar generates 2,200 pounds of downforce at a speed of 250 miles per hour.

F80 feels like a personal statement handmade by Ferrari. In a world where electric vehicles will make the record books obsolete, the venerable automaker wants to deliver a driving experience. It doesn't darken the McLaren W1 on the spec sheet or try to be an F1 car clone like Mercedes-AMG One. It's just a Ferrari. The best road car that the engineers in Maranello can build using the know-how from racing at the highest level.