Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXI

2 4 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I This is the most powerful car ever to leave the Ferrari factory, including its current Formula One race cars. Even without the 161bhp boost from the electric motor, LaFerrari’s 789bhp is more than the last V12 engine the Scuderia used in F1 back in 1995, and it develops the same aerodynamic downforce as the last of the big-winged F1 cars from 2004. Its giant, beautifully sculptured door that cuts into the roof, swings up and out on gas struts makes it unexpectedly easy to slither in to. I buckled in, made myself familiar with the switchgear and pressed the red start button on the steering wheel. In the months leading up to this moment, I’d played out a million scenarios in my head about how I’d mess this up or whom I would embarrass myself in front of. It fired into life without drama. Pulling the right paddle shift back to select first gear, I took a deep breath and muttered to myself “don’t stuff this up.” Foot off the brake, easy on the gas and I gingerly idled away up the path – another huge exhale to settle the nerves but my throat was as dry as sandpaper. So as the metal gates to Fiorano slid slowly back, I paused momentarily to absorb the streetscape which was unfolding before me and made one final attempt to calm the nerves as I was about to take the most exotic Ferrari road ever built and myself away from both our comfort zones. Away from the smooth, F1-grade racetrack, a series of pothole- filled, gravelly-shouldered local streets as narrow as a farmer’s access road awaited. Trundling behind farm trucks, rusty Fiats and the occasional tractor, it must have looked like a UFO for onlookers as I was coming to terms with LaFerrari. While not yet feeling comfortable, I was at least making friends with its cockpit, dimensions in the lane and suspension travel over speed humps. Surprisingly, LaFerrari is an easy car to manoeuvre and inside there’s plenty of headroom thanks to one of the design pointers which stated that there must be enough room to accommodate a helmet. The seat is not just fixed into position, it’s part of the carbon fibre tub with your posterior literally moulded into the base of the car. Having a car with your seat sculptured into it has to be about as bespoke as car production can get, right? Owners visit the factory to get a seat fitting just like F1 pilots Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, and the result is that you not only sit lower but you feel every nuance of the road and