FERRARI SF90 STRADALE

‘IS IT A TRUE FERRARI? ABSOLUTELY. IS IT A GREAT FERRARI? THAT’S HARDER TO ANSWER’ – RICHARD MEADEN, EVO 279

THE BIG GUN. THE NEWEST FERRARI IS ALWAYS a centre point of any ecoty, and a talking point too. They remain deeply desirable, make the hairs on the back of your hands jump to attention when you pull the door closed and grip the steering wheel. The anticipation is palpable.

So when there’s near on 1000bhp available from Ferrari’s first plug-in hybrid, which uses its volts not to assist a stonking great big V12 as per the Laferrari but to contribute to both the outright power output and allow for pure electric driving, you can understand why the SF90 is a Ferrari in demand like few others in ecotys past.

However, we’re also at a stage where big power no longer guarantees great driving thrills. There needs to be depth to the experience, a sense the driver is part of the process and instrumental in how the car performs – key aspects that Ferraris usually offer in bucketloads. But will the SF90 be able to manage both? It’s a mind-scramblingly complex car, one that requires a few hours of homework to understand its systems and work out how to turn it on.

But, it’s also a Ferrari. So it will be exciting, enthralling and captivating like few others. We also know its damping will be exquisite, its steering quick but workable and the software settings for the driver aids developed to a level few others can match.

Being the most expensive and the most powerful car in such a test can make you a target, the judges’ expectations set to a higher level, but this is nothing new for Ferrari, it rarely plays second best and the rush to drive the SF90 is only matched by that to drive a certain rear-engined car that’s also present.