It was scorching on the Balocco Circuit, although the calendar mentioned it was late April. The date itself was high secret, however the location was vital. Years earlier, it was right here that I attended the official launch of the Alfa Romeo 4C.
This present day, nevertheless, could be much more historic. I used to be about to get my first have a look at the brand new Ferrari Luce—a uncommon alternative contemplating the automobile’s official debut was nonetheless about 30 days away.
This story originally appeared on Motor1 Italy
That’s proper. The Luce was scheduled to be unveiled on Might 25, 2026, the identical day Ferrari celebrated the anniversary of its first victory on the Rome Grand Prix on the Baths of Caracalla 79 years earlier. I stood quietly off to the aspect because the video manufacturing group filmed the emotional launch video with Ferrari’s drivers.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had but to see the completed automobile, however that they had already climbed behind the wheel of the prototype to place it by its paces. As they headed out, Ferrari chief take a look at driver Raffaele De Simone—a person who, as he likes to say, grew up on “bread and gasoline”—turned to me and requested what I considered an electrical Ferrari.
And no, I don’t have any photographic proof from that day. Naturally, my smartphone had stickers overlaying each digicam. No images. No video. And there was at all times a diligent—however very well mannered—police officer close by ensuring it stayed that means.
All that is still are the reminiscences, filtered by phrases.
I’ll admit it: I used to be open to the concept. I used to be fascinated by the thought that Maranello—the Prancing Horse itself—was attempting to seize, reinterpret, and translate the analog feelings we affiliate with Ferrari into an more and more digital world.
Charles Leclerc And Lewis Hamilton Unveiling The Ferrari Luce
Picture by: Courtesy of Ferrari
Quick ahead.
The Ferrari Luce has now been unveiled, and there’s little question it has change into one of the talked-about vehicles—and, in some methods, one of the divisive—in latest reminiscence.
The styling. The design philosophy (we’ve already defined why it was created this manner). The idea. The concepts behind it. Every thing surrounding the automobile has sparked debate—from Ferrari’s choice to work with Jony Ive and Marc Newson to the purpose of making a five-seat mannequin, and even the concept of an electrical automobile sporting the Prancing Horse badge.
However there’s one basic level that has been missed: The Ferrari Luce nonetheless hasn’t been seen in motion. Nobody has seen it on the street. Nobody has skilled the way it drives, how briskly it feels, or, extra merely, how its design comes alive when it’s shifting.
In different phrases, we’re nonetheless lacking the ultimate piece of the puzzle. Visually, technically, dynamically. A very powerful component of any automobile—the driving expertise—has but to be witnessed by each those that reward it and people who criticize it. But everybody has already shaped an opinion.
And positive, individuals who have already made up their minds in all probability received’t change them. Nonetheless… I noticed one thing that day. And I had somebody clarify it to me firsthand.
Behind The Scenes At Maranello: A First Look With Marc Newson
Picture by: Courtesy of Ferrari
Hidden behind a tent at Balocco, lined by a purple sheet, sat the Ferrari Luce.
Standing beside me was Marc Newson. There have been solely a handful of individuals there, and the thrill was unattainable to disregard. When the duvet lastly got here off, I’ll admit it: I used to be stunned. As a result of the Luce, as everyone knows now, is one thing fully totally different.
Lovely? Ugly? I don’t wish to make that judgment. However that first look positively caught me off guard. The automobile’s “full” proportions instantly recall to mind a few of Carrozzeria Bertone’s experimental ideas from the Seventies—these sorts of designs that go away behind impressions and flashes of reminiscence.
The traces are definitely softer, whereas Newson—who additionally spoke to me about his ardour for classic vehicles—defined a number of the key concepts behind the design that we now know at the moment.
Lovely? Ugly? I don’t wish to make that judgment. However that first look positively caught me off guard.
There’s the 0.254 drag coefficient achieved with out energetic aerodynamics, a deliberate option to keep away from including weight or compromising the purity of the bodywork. There’s the black, teardrop-shaped cabin, separated from the aluminum physique to create the entrance wing impact. There are redesigned and patented windshield wipers that generate micro-vortices alongside the pillars. There are 23- and 24-inch wheels, the biggest ever fitted as normal to a Ferrari. And, in fact, there are the spherical headlights.
The Luce appears to be like like a crouching beast.
And I can verify this: in particular person, it feels a lot bigger and extra planted than it seems in images or movies. The rear three-quarter view is the place the largest debate will doubtless occur. I understood that instantly.
Picture by: Courtesy of Ferrari
Inside, nevertheless, past any private opinion in regards to the styling, I appreciated the stuff you truly contact — and the concept of translating analog mechanical parts into digital type. The burden and really feel of the levers, devices, glass, and steering wheel have been all particulars I appreciated with out hesitation.
And you understand what? After I returned to the newsroom the next day, virtually everybody requested me the identical query: what did I see?
I bear in mind giving just one reply: “Consider each sketch and each rendering that attempted to think about this automobile. None of them got here shut.”
Behind The Wheel With The Drivers
Picture by: Courtesy of Ferrari
The new day at Balocco wasn’t nearly revealing the completed automobile. There was additionally the prototype—lined in cameras and motion cams—getting used to seize the reactions of Ferrari’s drivers and engineers.
Sure, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have been driving it that day. And finally, that’s what issues most with any automobile.
Watching the video crew work behind the scenes was an expertise in itself. Anybody on this business is aware of what goes into producing this sort of content material. At Motor1.com Italia, we’ve got proficient professionals who shoot, edit, and create movies every single day. However this was on one other degree—a a lot bigger manufacturing, nearer in scale to a film set.
Sufficient speaking. Let’s see what occurs.
The Prince of Monaco is the primary to take the motive force’s seat. The Luce launches away, and I handle to look at it carve by a couple of sweeping corners within the distance earlier than returning a couple of minutes later. Lewis, sitting within the passenger seat, steps out with one in all his trademark smiles—though there’s a touch of stress behind it.
Apparently, that promise drivers make to one another—“we received’t push too onerous”—is only a suggestion. Charles has no thought what’s ready for him.
Whereas the prototype is out on monitor, I spend a while talking with the engineers. Then I spot Raffaele De Simone, who turns to me and asks the query that began all of it: “What do you consider electrical energy?”
The Engineering: Weight Is The Enemy
Picture by: Courtesy of Ferrari
“I grew up on bread and gasoline, so naturally I had my doubts about what we have been doing. Then I spotted the prototypes have been displaying huge potential.”
These are the phrases of Raffaele De Simone, Ferrari’s chief take a look at driver. And if the particular person accountable for driving each new Ferrari earlier than anybody else was initially skeptical—then modified his thoughts—that’s price listening to.
At Maranello, the Luce undertaking was constructed round 5 key “turbines of emotion:” longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, braking, adjustments in revs, and sound. The problem was integrating all of them right into a single expertise.
As a result of making a automobile that’s quick in a straight line is simple. Anybody can do this. Creating an electrical automobile that interprets digital sensations into one thing that feels analog is far tougher.
‘I grew up on bread and gasoline, so naturally I had my doubts about what we have been doing.’
“In a sports activities automobile, weight is the enemy,” says Gianmaria Fulgenzi. “We have a look at the scale and wheelbase, and we let ourselves be fooled. The Luce fully overturns that expectation. It rewrites the dynamic proportions of the automobile, and that was solely doable by electrification.”
The Luce’s 800-volt, 122.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack was designed and assembled in Maranello. It additionally serves as a structural component of the chassis, reducing the middle of gravity by almost 3.7 inches in contrast with the Purosangue.
Ferrari says the outcome ought to ship a dynamic feeling equal to lowering the automobile’s weight by roughly 882 kilos.
With torque vectoring by 4 impartial motors, energetic suspension, rear-wheel steering, and Aspect Slip Management in its X configuration, the comparability being mentioned inside Maranello is an bold one: dealing with near that of the 296 GTB. All whereas carrying 5 occupants and weighing 4,982 kilos.
Braking And Paddles: Maintaining The Analog Connection
Picture by: Ferrari
Braking is without doubt one of the areas the place the Luce goals to problem conventional EVs.
Regenerative braking works seamlessly alongside the 15.4-inch and 14.6-inch carbon-ceramic brakes, making a twin braking system that mixes electrical and mechanical forces. Ferrari says it’s in contrast to something at present provided by different electrical automobiles.
However essentially the most fascinating element sits straight behind the steering wheel; the paddles stay.
An iconic Ferrari characteristic, they survive even with no conventional gearbox. Ferrari calls the system Torque Shift Engagement, a very new idea designed to offer drivers extra management over the supply of electrical energy.
Picture by: Ferrari
The precise paddle controls 5 ranges of torque supply, whereas the left manages 5 ranges of engine-braking impact. On nook entry, destructive torque could be adjusted. On nook exit, energy supply is optimized primarily based on grip and nook radius.
Every thing serves one bigger purpose: making a sound expertise that doesn’t really feel synthetic.
On the Luce, the pickup system makes use of an accelerometer to seize the actual vibrations of the powertrain and rear subframe. An algorithm then filters out undesirable frequencies and reproduces solely essentially the most fascinating parts inside and outdoors the cabin.
No samples. No synthesized sounds. And finally, the choice stays with the motive force: energetic in sure driving modes, disabled in others.
The Lacking Piece
Picture by: Courtesy of Ferrari
Weeks have handed since that day, and the Ferrari Luce has sparked a debate in contrast to virtually any automobile earlier than it.
It has divided Ferrari purists and people curious sufficient to embrace one thing new. It has separated those that see it as a betrayal of the model’s heritage from those that see it as a obligatory gamble for the long run.
Each opinion is legitimate. And by now, they’ve all been heard. However two issues from that late April day nonetheless stick with me.
The primary is my dialog with Raffaele De Simone. He brazenly admitted that he had doubts at first, however these doubts modified after experiencing the prototypes. The Luce, he defined, isn’t merely one other new Ferrari. It represents new growth paths, a special mind-set in regards to the dynamics of a sports activities automobile.
And when the person accountable for testing Ferraris earlier than anybody else adjustments his thoughts, which means one thing. The second is that this: even at the moment, nobody has actually seen the Luce in movement.
Individuals have judged {a photograph}, a rendering, an thought, even a video. However all of it has been static. The true verdict—the one made with arms on the steering wheel, not thumbs scrolling on a smartphone—has but to reach.
Perhaps it received’t change many opinions. Perhaps some minds are already made up. However the precept stays. Choose the design if you would like. Debate the philosophy. Query the expertise. However vehicles are supposed to be pushed.
That day, I obtained a preview. Truly, even lower than that. I solely noticed the automobile assault a couple of corners from a distance.
However I additionally heard one thing else—the reactions of the folks behind the wheel, captured in that second of silence and anticipation.
And sure, I haven’t forgotten the ultimate element.
The prototype returns to the pits. Hamilton steps out with a half-smile—this time far much less tense than earlier than. Leclerc will get out smiling too, though he’s sweaty, barely pale, and instantly asks for a glass of water.
By no means belief a driver after they say, “Let’s take it straightforward.”
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