Ferraris

But Ferrari’s shares dropped the day after the Luce’s launch, following backlash over the car.

Amongst those criticising the car were Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who said the car was “risking the destruction of a legend”.

Ferrari’s chief design officer Flavio Manzoni said in an interview in May that critics are part of the innovation process and that he believed people would come to appreciate the Luce.

The company has not disclosed its target for Luce sales but, according to a Financial Times report, it has hit this year’s goal thanks to strong demand from China.

Ferrari did not respond to a BBC request for comment on the FT’s report,

Sotheby’s said in a statement, external that the auctioned vehicle marked an “unbeatable opportunity” to own the first production car of the Luce.

The car has special wheels, customised brakes and a white finish.

The charity sale marks a “tangible expression of innovation, responsibility, and long-term vision for future generations,” Sotheby’s said.

Ferraris often attract some of the highest prices at car auctions.

A bespoke Ferrari Daytona SP3 supercar raised $26m for the carmaker’s education initiatives at an auction in 2025. At the time it set an auction record for the highest-price paid for a new car.

The current record for the highest price paid at auction was an ultra-rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé, which was sold for $142m in 2022.

Mercedes’ George Russell took his second win of the season with victory from pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen recovered from a crash in the final part of qualifying to finish second at Red Bull’s home race, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli in third.

Russell’s win moves him back up to second in the drivers’ standings, 40 points behind team-mate Antonelli.

BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions before this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

I think a pole position under a yellow flag sets a dangerous precedent, because it’s clear that from now on, everyone will continue to push hard after a small slow down, or else their lap will be cancelled. I’d be curious to hear your opinion – Lorenzo

George Russell’s pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, the foundation for his victory on Sunday, came about in controversial circumstances.

According to the rules, Russell did nothing wrong.

Marshals trackside initially waved a single yellow flag when Max Verstappen crashed at Turn Nine.

Kimi Antonelli mis-read the light board as a double yellow, and backed out of his lap – the correct response for what he thought to be the case. Under a double yellow, drivers have to “slow down and be prepared to stop”.

But under a single yellow, a driver does not have to abandon their lap. They only have to not set a fastest time in the relevant section of the track.

Russell complied with this, but the rest of his lap was fast enough to put him on pole anyway.

The concern here is less the specifics of these rules, but whether the correct flag was shown in the circumstances.

The answer to that has to be no.

Verstappen crashed at the fastest corner on the track, which is taken at close to 140mph.

Turn Nine is notoriously challenging, with its downhill entry, and an exit kerb that’s easy to over-run.

Both Verstappen and Antonelli questioned the decision to show only a single yellow at the time, when Verstappen’s car was in the barrier at this corner as other drivers were seeking to set what would be their fastest laps of the weekend.

Verstappen described it as “quite crazy”.

Antonelli said: “There was a car in the wall in a fast corner. I don’t know why it didn’t go double-yellow straight away, because it’s a super-quick corner, and if you go off at the same time, it can end up very badly. That was a bit confusing.

“For sure it’s something that needs to be reviewed, especially when it happens in a high-speed corner.

“If it’s a slow-speed [corner], single yellow can be OK but fast corners should be double yellow straight away.”

To underline the point, within 20 seconds, race control upgraded the flag to a double yellow, but everyone had completed their laps by then.

Published on
25/06/2026 – 11:59 GMT+2

Ferrari has announced that Enrico Galliera, its chief marketing and commercial officer of more than 16 years, will step down, handing one of the most sensitive jobs in the luxury car world to an outsider.

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His successor, Massimiliano Di Silvestre, the former head of BMW’s Italian business, takes over on 1 July and will report directly to CEO Benedetto Vigna.

Galliera’s exit comes barely a month after Ferrari pulled the covers off the Luce, its first fully electric model, which received a reception few at the company were happy about.

The car, whose edgeless styling was developed with LoveFrom, the design studio founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, broke sharply from Ferrari’s traditional look and drew swift ridicule from enthusiasts and investors alike.

The backlash was unusually public for a brand accustomed to adoration.

Ferrari’s shares fell more than 8% in a single session after the reveal, a sharp market verdict on one of the industry’s most valuable names.

Critics lined up to attack the design, among them the company’s own former chairman, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who warned that the brand was risking the destruction of a legend and went so far as to suggest the famous badge be removed from the car.

Italy’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, joined in, questioning the four-door model’s price, which starts at €550,000.

However, Ferrari has firmly rejected any link between the criticism and Galliera’s departure.

According to the company, he had decided to move on some time ago and agreed to remain in place through the Luce launch before pursuing what it described as a new chapter in his career.

Vigna praised his contribution and framed the change as part of the brand’s evolution rather than a reaction to it.

An outsider for an uncertain road

Whatever the motivation, the choice of replacement is telling.

Di Silvestre brings more than two decades of experience in the premium car market, having steered BMW Italy since 2019, and represents a rare move by Ferrari to recruit its commercial chief from a rival rather than promote from within.

He inherits the task of selling an electric Ferrari to a clientele that pays a heavy premium for exclusivity, at a moment when demand for high-performance EVs has cooled.

Ferrari maintains that interest in the Luce remains strong, though investors will not get a clearer picture until the company reports its second-quarter results on 30 July.