Ferrari’s hypercars have always moved the needle—and not just the ones in the instrument display. With Formula One and World Endurance Championship (WEC) racing cars doing the hard yards, the technology transfer from track to road is for real in Maranello. Enter the F80, the latest in a bloodline that spans 40 years and some of Ferrari’s most revered cars. Collectors are spending big on the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and the LaFerrari. A new arrival is a once-in-a-decade event.

Back-to-back wins in the two most recent Le Mans 24 Hours races has certainly emboldened the Prancing Horse. So while some might query the presence of a hybridized 3.0-litre V6 engine in a multi-million dollar car from a brand synonymous with the naturally aspirated V12, that would be to miss the point spectacularly. Downsizing be damned. The F80’s powertrain is startling in its complexity and originality, with an architecture and layout close to that of the garlanded 499P endurance racer.

But it also uses the MGU-K and MGU-H tech, the components that form the energy recovery system that’s core to Ferrari’s F1 cars, making it a hybrid in more ways than one. Its performance is staggering: the F80 can accelerate to 62 mph in just 2.1 seconds, 124 mph in 5.7 seconds, its top speed limited to 217 mph. Sure, Tesla’s Model S Plaid is a fraction faster, but it’s… not a Ferrari.

“We are at the pinnacle,” the company’s chief product development officer Gianmaria Fulgenzi states. “Thanks to the integration and software, we are able to push the boundaries, to create a new red line, you could say. The aerodynamics, the control of the slip angles, the acceleration… it’s a car you can push to the limit. To your personal limits. You can feel everything that’s going on immediately. The software is playing a key role, but you don’t perceive it. Instead you feel like you’ve been driving the car for a long time. It becomes part of you.”

Given the numbers in play here, that’s no mean feat. The total output is 1,183 bhp, 887 of which is produced by the combustion engine, 296 bhp by the hybrid system. Although that’s less than McLaren claims for its recently revealed W1, Ferrari is unbothered. As Fulgenzi says, integration is the secret sauce here, but Ferrari’s chefs have access to a panoply of the finest ingredients.

Ferrari’s Own Electric Motors

Ignition and injection timing has been optimzed, the combustion chamber permits higher than ever pressures, and the exhaust is made of Inconel, and has been specially tuned to deliver the sort of coruscating note Ferrari owners and fans crave.

There are a pair of turbos, with an e-motor fitted between the turbine and compressor to help them spool up faster. Elsewhere in the engine you’ll find titanium connecting rods, diamond-like carbon, and various revisions mean that it weighs about the same as the unit in the 296 GTB, despite a power uplift of 237 bhp.

But, aside from those e-turbos, Ferrari mastered all this stuff years ago. It’s the hybrid elements and software engineering that demonstrates what a rapid trajectory these guys are now on. Rather than relying on external suppliers, Ferrari is taking charge, having recently opened the new ‘E’ building. Its first fully electric car is due to appear this time next year, but the hardware is already in production in this expansive Mario Cucinella-designed space.

The electric motors used on the F80 are thus entirely proprietary, with the aim of maximizing performance while minimizing weight. There are two on the front axle and one on the rear, to deliver torque vectoring and all-wheel drive.

The electric front axle also houses an inverter and cooling system, the whole assembly weighing just 61.5 kg. That’s 14 kg less than the equivalent set-up on the SF90 model. The inverter is bi-directional, so that alternating current produced by the e-axle under regenerative braking is turned into direct current to charge the battery. The inverter on the rear MGU-K e-motor is used to start the combustion engine, recover energy to the battery, and provide torque-fill under load. Both inverters are governed by an incredibly compact control module.

The e-motor’s stator and rotor sit in what’s called a Halbach array, which targets and maximizes the density of the magnetic field. The magnets’ sleeve is made of carbon fiber, allowing it to spin at up to 30,000rpm. Both are solutions derived from Formula One. A unique DC/DC converter means that one component can handle 800 V, 48 V and 12 V simultaneously. Ferrari says it has a conversion efficiency of 98 percent, and it reduces weight and complexity.

The high voltage battery (860 V, in fact) is also directly influenced by F1: 204 lithium cells are grouped in three modules in a carbon fiber case that sits low in the chassis to maintain an optimum center of gravity. It’s all in the aid of performance: Unlike the 296 GTB, there is no EV mode on this thing. With a dry weight of 1,525 kg, it’s 125 kg heavier than the McLaren W1, but its British rival lacks an electrified front axle, and thus the Ferrari’s torque vectoring and all-wheel drive.

Unbelievable Aero

Like the Aston Martin Valkyrie and W1, the F80 utilizes ground effect aerodynamics. In total, it can generate 1,000 kg of downforce at 155 mph, a metric to conjure with given that this is primarily a road car.

A front triplane wing inspired by the device used on the Le Mans-winning 499P, flat underbody, S-duct, raised “keel”, rear diffuser and an active rear wing all work in tandem with the F80’s active suspension to generate unprecedented stability without hurting the car’s on-road dynamics.

The powertrain has even been tilted by 1.3 degrees so that the gearbox doesn’t interfere with the airflow beneath the chassis, with a knock-on effect on the driving position which is now racily recumbent. (Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc approved of this when he tested an F80 prototype.) The rear wing uses an actuator to continuously alter its height and angle of attack, and can adopt Low Drag or High Downforce configurations.

The chassis itself is made of T800 carbon fiber, the same grade that Ferrari’s F1 cars are constructed from, with other composites used in critical areas. The chassis is also assymetric, with an adjustable seat for the driver, while the passenger’s is offset slightly and fixed to the tub. Parts of the front subframe are hollow and double up as cooling ducts for the brakes.

Meanwhile, a new manufacturing technique means that the castings are lighter but stronger, the F80’s structure 50 percent stiffer than the LaFerrari’s. And that was no slouch. The hardware is now seamlessly at one with Ferrari’s electronic controls and software, which encompasses its spookily effective Side Slip Control (now on v8.0), an electronic differential, a Dynamic Enhancer (it predicts yaw and brings the brakes into play), and the brakes themselves which use next-gen carbon ceramic discs co-developed with Brembo. Michelin has also developed new tyres specifically for the F80.

Genuinely Next-Level

This is all core to Ferrari’s mission when it comes to its most extreme cars. But this is a company for whom beauty in design is also canonical, and more than ever the battle here is to reconcile aesthetics with aerodynamics. This tension is visible in the upper volume of the doors, where a channel protects the air flow along the wing from disturbance by turbulent air generated in the front wheelarch area.

There’s also a contemporary spin on the ‘NACA’ duct that channels air towards the engine intake and side radiators. Sounds cool, looks amazing up close. (Its designers call this area the “impluvium”, a gutter that caught water in houses in Ancient Rome. Old-school.)

In truth, Ferrari’s in-house Centro Stile has long got used to translating the arcane requirements of the company’s tech bros into something visually stimulating. Even so, the F80 is genuinely next-level. It’s not a car that gives up its secrets in one easy read, though, so take your time getting your head around it.

Ferrari’s chief design officer Flavio Manzoni cites the febrile rush of the Sixties space race as an influence, although there are various nods to other Ferraris, including the early Seventies 312PB and the Eighties F40. There are some judiciously placed curves, but the F80 has an almost brutalist quality: Check out the vertical elements at the end of the wheelarches and the black panel on the nose. That’s actually another aero device, but Manzoni is pleased with how it alters our perception of the car’s “face”.

Cars of this ilk tend to hit hardest from the rear three-quarters, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The engine cover has six louvres, one for each of the cylinders. But as exterior designer Carlo Palazzani tells WIRED, the F80 does its best work head-on. “We discovered the design of this car by doing it,” he explains.

Interestingly, Centro Stile was keen for the F80 to be a single-seater, an imperative that was over-ruled by the marketing department. But the F80’s dominant design attribute is the compactness of the cockpit, so much so that Ferrari refers to the car as a “1+”. It helps reduce weight and aerodynamic drag, so a no-brainer on the F80. In that sense, everything started with the cabin, and its dimensions, and grew from there.

Sitting in it confirms that the F80 is a car you almost wear, so tightly does it envelop the occupants. The steering wheel is a new design—it’s smaller, with a flat top and bottom—that welcomes back physical buttons. Ferrari’s adventures in haptic switchgear appears to be over, thank goodness. There’s a simple center console, and transparent film is embedded in the windscreen which draws power from the 48V circuit to de-mist the screen rather than relying on the climate control system. There’s also lane assist and adaptive cruise control, but who in their right mind needs that in a car like this?

Now to some final, important numbers. The F80 will cost $4 million (£3.1m). Even if you do have that lying around, only Ferrari’s top-tier clients make the grade, and all 799 are sold. That’s more than they made LaFerraris, fewer than the number of F40s that rolled out of Maranello. It’s also $3.2 billion in the bank. Time will tell where this newcomer ends up in the pantheon of Ferrari greats, but it’s going to be fun finding out.