After Lamborghini announced that its new Huracan Performante achieved a record lap at the 12.9-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife, Michael Leiters, Ferrari’s chief technical officer, expressed indifference towards these lap times in an interview with Top Gear.
During the Geneva auto show this week, Leiters made it clear that Ferrari does not intend to participate in the record lap time competition following Lamborghini’s claims. “I don’t want to follow this announcement,” he stated to Top Gear. "We never announce times for our cars. For me, the Nürburgring serves as a technical and engineering benchmark. It is the most demanding circuit, and indeed, a car that performs well there is likely to handle effectively on regular roads, as it requires less rigid suspension than a racing setup.”
He continued, “However, there are numerous factors that can influence lap times and many variables that can be manipulated to achieve a record… I find this approach unappealing. To me, a lap time is merely an internal engineering goal. I’m not preoccupied with setting records.”
Lamborghini’s lap time of 6:52 sparked debate among Nürburgring experts. A closer examination revealed a discrepancy between the digital speedometer featured in Lamborghini’s YouTube video and the actual speedometer of the car.
The topic of Nürburgring lap times also surfaced for Ferrari back in August 2016 when the company faced pressure to reveal a *Ring time for the FXX K.
Leiters further stated that Ferrari would not be in the habit of frequently introducing new hypercars merely to compete with brands like Aston Martin’s Valkyrie or the Mercedes-AMG Project One. “Our philosophy is not to launch a new LaFerrari every decade,” he explained. “We aim to unveil a new supercar when we have crafted a new roadmap of innovations and technology. Only when we are convinced that this combination will elevate Ferrari’s performance will we proceed with the development of a new supercar.”
For the full interview with Leiters, you can visit Top Gear’s website.
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