Ferrari SF90 Stradale becomes fastest production car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Production-car record chases usually point to a certain German circuit, but this time the spotlight falls on an American venue: the Ferrari SF90 Stradale is now the quickest production car to lap the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway road-course record

Indianapolis is among the world’s oldest and most recognisable tracks, best known in its oval layout (4 km long) and, above all, as the home of the legendary Indianapolis 500 (Indy 500), a 500-mile (800 km) race.

Since 2000, however, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has also featured a conventional circuit laid out inside the oval (while using part of it), which helped bring Formula 1 back to the United States. It is on this Indianapolis “road course” that the SF90 Stradale set its benchmark.

The Ferrari SF90 Stradale completed a lap in just 1min29,625s, reaching a top speed of 280.9 km/h. The record was set on 15 July during the Ferrari Racing Days event held at the circuit.

Unlike Nürburgring, Indianapolis sees relatively few headline record attempts - in the US it is the lap time at Laguna Seca that everyone targets - but in 2015 a Porsche 918 Spyder (also a hybrid) posted a 1min34.4s lap.

Ferrari SF90 Stradale: hybrid powertrain and drivetrain layout

The Ferrari SF90 Stradale stands as the most powerful series-production model ever built by Maranello, with 1000 cv of maximum output, even eclipsing one of its older and highly coveted siblings, the Ferrari LaFerrari - a car fitted with a V12 that is “slightly” larger than the engine used in the SF90.

In the SF90 Stradale, a 4.0 l twin-turbo V8 sits behind the driver, producing 780 cv at 7500 rpm and 800 Nm of torque at 6000 rpm. But… where do the 1000 cv come from? Bridging the gap are three electric motors, which also make this model the first plug-in hybrid Ferrari in the history of the Prancing Horse brand. Two electric motors are mounted on the front axle (one per wheel), while the third is positioned on the rear axle, between the engine and the gearbox.

With that in mind, it is straightforward to see that the combined thrust is delivered to all four wheels, via a dual-clutch gearbox that serves only the rear axle. As with other electrified vehicles, there is no physical connection between the two driven axles.

Assetto Fiorano

It is worth noting that this Ferrari SF90 Stradale was fitted with the Assetto Fiorano package. Compared with a standard SF90 Stradale, this pack brings meaningful performance-focused upgrades, including Multimatic dampers derived from GT racing and greater use of lightweight materials such as carbon fibre (door panels, vehicle floor) and titanium (exhaust, springs), reducing total mass by 30 kg.

Also included within the Assetto Fiorano specification - and helping to “stick” the supercar even more firmly to the tarmac - were the optional, highly grippy Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tyres, as well as a carbon-fibre spoiler designed to generate an additional 390 kg of downforce at 250 km/h.