Ferrari's 2013 F1 car will be its last to go on sale as part of special client programme

If you did not know this yet, Ferrari does sell its older F1 cars to private buyers. But the Ferrari 2013 F1 car will be the last one to be sold. This is because the new cars that pack in expensive hybrid powertrains are simply too expensive to maintain. Autocar UK interviewed Ferrari F1 test driver Marc Gené at the preview event of the Ferrari World Barcelona. At the event Gené who was aware of the problem stated that the more recent F1 cars that pack in 1.6-litre engines and also rely or hybrid electric motors are just too expensive to maintain for customers. Yes, Ferrari as per its client programme maintains and flies those cars to be driven on tracks around the globe. But flying them over, is not the tough part, it is readying those components for flight that are painstaking. “Just to fly them over, the battery needs some extra safety requirements for the plane. To run, the current engines are very advanced but so expensive.” said Gené. As for the 2013 F1 car that is up for sale, it a lot easier to maintain because of its simpler layout. The 2013 model uses a larger 2.4-litre V8 engine with smaller electric motors. Earlier models used even bigger engines in the V8 or the V10 form. As told to Autocar, Ferrari even managed to make a profit running and maintaining them for clients. The Ferrari client programme is called the Corse Clienti. The programme provides the owners of these exquisite track-only machines at circuits for driving their cars (and at racing events as well). The cars are flown down as per request, and so is the full team of mechanics to run those machines. Ferrari also takes care of the hospitality of these special clients during driving days. Ferrari allows its clients to keep their cars wherever they please, its just that they need to be inspected by Ferrari technicians before they are taken out for spin.