Driver writes off £260,000 Ferrari and admits: ‘I only had it for an hour’

 A driver wrote off a £260,000 Ferrari an hour after picking up the keys.

The black Ferrari 430 Scuderia crashed off the side of a motorway and exploded into a fireball.

Police said the driver left the road in wet conditions and slid 160ft (50m) across a field before the vehicle, which can travel from 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds, burst into flames near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Officers revealed the driver, who escaped with cuts and bruises, told them with “a hint of damaged pride” that “it was a Ferrari” – before saying he had “picked it up an hour ago”.

Police had revealed why motorists were stuck at Junction 37 of the M1 on Thursday by posting two pictures of the wreckage on Facebook.

South Yorkshire Police Operational Support posted: “Afternoon folks, were you stuck in traffic this afternoon on the M1 south around junction 37? If so, here’s why. Officers were deployed to a single-vehicle collision with reports that the vehicle had left the carriageway and burst in to flames.

“Road conditions were wet at the time and as officers arrived on scene it became clear there was a vehicle well alight.

“Colleagues from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue were in attendance, squirting water all over some kind of sporty motor some 50 or so meters down a banking.

“The serious part of this post: Over the past couple of weeks there has been a number of collisions where driving styles have not reflected the road & weather conditions – please take more care.

“Ps: Here’s a couple of pictures of the previously mentioned sporty motor – for those who aren’t very knowledgeable on cars, it was a Ferrari 430 Scuderia.”