Ferrari Launches 2010 F1 Car And Confirms 599 Hybrid will Debut In Geneva

A Ferrari 599 hybrid? Sounds like the stuff of fantasy, but that's the word coming from today's launch of the 2010 Ferrari Formula 1 car.

This is the car that Ferrari hopes will rejuvenate its fortunes in F1. Things to note include just how much this new car looks like last year’s Red Bull RB5 at the front, the new exhausts which are really far forward on the side pods and the presence of loads of Santander branding thanks to the arrival of Fernando Alonso at the Scuderia.

A hybrid Ferrari
But while we’re excited about the start of the new F1 season, and seeing the new Ferrari turn a wheel for the first time at the firm’s Fiorano circuit, Ferrari added a little extra intrigue by confirming that it will show off a 599 hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

F1 to road
Despite the fact that F1 has turned its back on the KERS power boost system, Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo was keen to stress that the Italian firm is committed to improving sustainability and efficiency, while also further promoting the transfer of F1 technology to its new road cars.

599 hybrid preliminary details
As you’d expect, there isn’t much else to say about the 599 hybrid. But doing some digging on Italian sites, we’ve discovered that the Ferrari has filed a patent for an as-yet undefined hybrid system which was designed to be simple to make and to improve handling.

Hybrid torque vectoring
For that reason we expect the 599 hybrid to feature a pair of electric motors built into the rear transaxle. These will be powered by lithium ion batteries and operate like a torque vectoring system, with one motor sending power to the outer wheel in cornering while the other motor regenerative brakes the inside wheel. Putting the 'e' in e-diff sounds very clever to us.