Ferrari SF90 XX Stradale on the limit – car pictures of the week

Drive a Ferrari SF90 and chances are you'll quite quickly determine that it doesn't need to be an ounce faster than it is already. The masterminds at Maranello, however, think differently. With the new SF90 XX Stradale, Ferrari has pushed the envelope to create its most extreme road car yet – and evo’s driven it. 

You can read the full track test at Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit in issue 318 of evo, which is available in-store or online via the evo shop. 

The SF90 XX carries an enormous weight of expectation. Not only is it being pitched as the fastest Ferrari road car to ever lap a circuit (it broke Fiorano’s production car record during our visit) but it must also untangle the standard car's complex, unintuitive driving dynamics. The triple-motor hybrid system gives the SF90 astonishing performance but in its initial road tests it was found short on the more subjective matters of feel and personality. 

This time around the V8 hybrid system generates a colossal 1016bhp, which is transferred to the road using a reconfigured set of chassis electronics. The wild GT-car-style bodywork doubles the SF90s peak downforce, and it's 10kg lighter despite the new aero hardware. The end result is astonishing – the XX Stradale laps Fiorano in 1:17.309, 1.4sec faster than the SF90 equipped with the Assetto Fiorano package.

The more important question is whether this raw speed is accompanied by the feel and finesse that, to some, is lacking in the base car. ‘It’s working hard beneath you, but it feels supernatural,’ said our man Dickie Meaden. ‘Crucially, you feel very much part of the process: the harder you push, the more critical your inputs become. Clumsy hands would drop it, no question, but the challenge of working towards its limits is highly rewarding.’

Pick up your copy of evo 318 in-store or online to read the full feature.