Ferrari has confirmed that its next-generation hypercar is probably three to five years away from launching, a few years earlier than originally expected.

The Italian marque’s chief technology officer Michael Leiters revealed the news to Autocar while confirming that the model won’t be powered by a Formula One engine, despite AMG’s impending hypercar set to do just that.

“When we define our new roadmap of technology and innovation, we will then consider a replacement for LaFerrari.

“We want to do something different. It won’t be a road car with a Formula 1 engine because, to be realistic, it would need to idle at 2500-3000rpm and rev to 16,000rpm. The F50 used an F1 engine, but it needed to be changed a lot.

“The roadmap will be finished in about six months. So my guess is that we could be three to five years away from a new limited-edition hypercar,” he said. “Part of the plan is to ensure that the technology used in the next hypercar can be cascaded through the rest of the range.” 

What this means is that we’ll have to wait until 2022 at the latest for Ferrari to launch its next hypercar. A 2022 launch date would come nine years after the LaFerrari arrived which itself arrived 11 years after the Enzo.

Whatever direction Ferrari takes with its new hypercar, it won’t just have to worry about Porsche and McLaren. Both Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG are promising to push the hypercar market to new boundaries with their hybrid offerings and Ferrari would hate to be left behind.

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