Ferrari set the automotive world buzzing when it unveiled the 2025 Ferrari F80, the spiritual successor to the legendary LaFerrari. The surprise wasn’t in the looks or the tech — it was under the engine cover. Instead of the iconic V12 everyone expected, Ferrari chose a compact V6. For many fans, it felt like the end of an era.
The timing added fuel to the fire. Just months earlier, Ferrari proudly introduced the 12Cilindri, a celebration of the naturally aspirated V12 and a promise that the twelve-cylinder engine would live on. So why switch to a V6 for Ferrari’s new flagship?
Ferrari says the answer is simple: the V6 was the right tool for the job.
During a technical workshop held inside the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena on November 19, the company shared the story behind the F80’s development — a car ArabGT followers already saw in its first-ever Arabic test drive with Suhaib Shasha’a. Ferrari admitted it seriously considered keeping a naturally aspirated V12, but the engineering direction became clear: a twin-turbo hybrid V6 offered the performance they were chasing.
So Why a V6?
Matteo Turconi, Ferrari’s marketing chief for its top-tier product line, explained it with refreshing honesty:
“We had to choose between putting our most iconic engine in the car or taking the very best that racing technology can offer. In the end, the answer wasn’t complicated — we chose performance. We chose the turbo hybrid V6.”
And Ferrari is not shy about defending that choice. Turconi even says the V6 outperforms the V12. The numbers back him up: the 3.0-liter engine, derived from Ferrari’s 499P endurance race car, produces an astonishing 300 horsepower per liter. Its smaller size also means a shorter wheelbase, lower weight, and sharper handling.
Paolo Valenti, who leads the team behind Ferrari’s experimental prototypes, revealed that the V6 is actually known inside Maranello as “the big engine.” Not because of its size, but because of what it can do. Its compact layout even gives the aerodynamics team more freedom — enough to stretch the rear diffuser to 1.8 meters, a huge advantage in downforce.
No V12 This Time — But History Says It’s Fine
Fans of big-displacement engines may still feel uneasy, but Ferrari has been here before. Icons like the 288 GTO and the F40 both used turbocharged V8s, and they remain some of the most beloved Ferraris ever made.
And customers clearly trust the brand: every one of the 799 planned units of the F80 was sold long before production started.
Even as Ferrari moves toward its first fully electric model, the company insists that internal combustion is here to stay — V6, V8, and V12 included.
By 2030, Ferrari expects its lineup to be:
— 40% combustion engines
— 40% hybrids
— 20% EVs
