Ferrari in Melbourne but cancels SF90 hypercar launch

F1 giant Ferrari has sent a 50-person squad to Australia for the opening F1 Grand Prix of the 2020 season, but has walled its own Maranello headquarters off to visitors over coronavirus (COVID-19) fears.

While New York Auto Show organisers this morning announced the Easter show would be pushed back to August, in Italy, Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale has become another automotive casualty. The launch of the hybrid hypercar has been effectively cancelled due to the effects of the virus.

The Ferrari SF90 Stradale was due to be presented to the press at Maranello and Ferrari’s Fiorano test track at the start of April. Now, the launch of the V8 twin-turbo, tri-motor petrol-electric hybrid has been postponed indefinitely.

It’s not the first European new car launch to be postponed until the coronavirus crisis abates. Others including the Volkswagen T-Roc convertible and the Mercedes-Benz CLS.

Local Australian media trips to launches of vehicles like the new Audi A3 have been cancelled in recent weeks.

Ferrari’s postponement came after the Italian Government locked down 16 million people in Lombardy, Veneto and Ferrari’s Emilia Romagna province, before extending it to the entire country.

The 340km/h Ferrari SF90 Stradale hypercar was set to become the fastest Ferrari series production car of all time, surpassing all of the brand’s V12s by mating the Ferrari 488’s twin turbo V8 engine with three electric motors to deliver 736kW or 1000hp.

While the launch event has been cancelled, Ferrari’s employees are still reporting for work under the Government’s "proven working needs” provision.

The Australian F1 Grand Prix will go ahead with a full contingent of 20 cars this weekend, though the virus has already struck the season calendar.

Both the Ferrari and AlphaTauri teams (as well as Pirelli, which supplies all F1 tyres) are based in northern Italy, in the original quarantine zone (AlphaTauri is based in Faenza), and have a special dispensation to avoid quarantine periods.

Those measures include special testing of all Italian personnel, plus F1 chartering a flight from Europe, with nobody leaving the plane during its refueling stop.

In two weeks the Bahrain Grand Prix will take place without spectators. China has already postponed the fourth round, due to take place in Shanghai, and the new Vietnam race is also in doubt.

Italy, home of the Monza Grand Prix, and France (La Castellet) have already banned gatherings of more than 1000 people, while Britain has the legal capacity to do so.

Stock markets have hammered Liberty Media’s Formula One ($FWONK), trashing its share value from US$48.50 on February 22 to US$29.96 (Tuesday, March 10) over fears of empty stadiums and cancelled races this season.