SPY PICS: Ferrari F250 hypercar looks like a road-going racer

The upcoming Ferrari F250 (codename) hypercar has been spotted testing on public roads near Maranello, but the inside word is that the finished product won’t look exactly like this early prototype.

Seemingly inspired by the Le Mans-winning 499P LMH racer, the F250’s overall aesthetic is outrageously lairy compared to Ferrari’s previous flagship hypercars, with an enormous fixed rear wing stealing the limelight from the rest of the less than flattering bodyshell.

From some angles it could almost be mistaken for a Corvette Z06 racer, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it’s a long way away from Ferrari’s traditional design ethos, so we’re relieved to hear the finer details will be altered before the car’s 2026 reveal.

Rumour has it around 600 units will be produced with a fixed roof, with another 200 or so convertible ‘Apertas’ to follow.

Very little is known about the powertrain at this stage, but chances are it will be an electrified (plug-in hybrid) V6 or V8 developing close to 746kW (1000hp) and undoubtedly eclipsing the LaFerrari’s ballistic 708kW V12 hybrid system.

A 2026 launch means the F250 will hit public roads in finished form around the same time as the long-promised McLaren P1 successo and not long before the Porsche 918 Spyder follow-up, reigniting the fabled battle of the ‘holy trinity’.

The key difference this time around is that one of the big three – the Porsche – will be launched exclusively with a battery-electric powertrain as opposed to the expected plug-in hybrid set-ups of the Ferrari and McLaren.

While the Porsche won’t have the acoustics or theatrics of the angry PHEVs, it’ll almost certainly feature Rimac-derived motor and battery technology, which should make the German hypercar a formidable opponent for its independently developed Italian and British rivals.

Based on the asking prices of previous flagship Ferraris, the F250 is tipped to command close to €2 million ($A3.26m) in coupe form and even more for the convertible.

With such an aggressive demeanour on the cards, we wouldn’t be surprised at all if a series of even harder-core, track-only XX versions also eventuates at some stage.

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