The Ferrari SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano Makes 986 HP Feel Easy

Turn 6 is the tightest corner at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track. A 180-degree left-hander, the late-apex bend forces you to come to a near stop before rocketing off on to the back straight. In any normal high-horsepower car, you’d have to slowly ease into the throttle on the way out to get a perfect exit. Otherwise, you’re lighting up tires or kicking in traction control, losing time. But not in the SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano.

Every so often I drive something that forces me to reprogram my brain to better process how cars work. The SF90 Stradale equipped with the optional Assetto Fiorano package is one of those cars. Out of Turn 6, and really every turn at Ferrari’s factory-adjacent circuit, you can flat-foot the throttle and let the car catapult you toward the next apex without a hint of drama, thanks to all of the tech working behind the scenes. The best part? That tech doesn’t make the car feel cold or disconnected.

With the Assetto Fiorano package the SF90 Stradale has otherworldly levels of capability at Fiorano. During my first few laps I was easing into the throttle on corner exit, thinking there would be no way I’d be able to put all the power down in anything other than a completely straight line. Ferrari head test driver Raffaele de Simone approached me after my session and told me how much earlier I could have gone flat out; I found him difficult to believe, but sure enough, once the second session rolled around I had my foot to the floor much earlier and gained an incredible amount of pace.

It wasn’t just the SF90’s ability to lay down its power in such a drama-free fashion that impressed me. The steering, despite having to deal with a pair of electric motors sending power to the front wheels, was surprisingly light, full of feel, and free of torque steer. The brake-by-wire system, another first for Ferrari, was well tuned for the track. The pedal travel, while short, was consistent and easy to modulate, making trail braking into tight turns like Fiorano’s 1 and 5 a breeze. All of the car’s central inputs are intuitive, allowing you to focus more on the act of driving and less on where the front wheels are pointed or if the brakes will have the same amount of grab they did the last lap.

The crowning achievement of the SF90 Stradale isn’t its performance or wild styling. It’s how the car still manages to be engaging at its stratospheric limits, even to an amateur driver like me. It invites you to push it further and further without it becoming snappy, intimidating, or unpredictable. It makes 986 hp friendly, welcoming, and, above all, easy.

The SF90 is a good indicator of what we can expect from Ferrari in the next decade. Design-wise, it represents Maranello’s first step away from the angry-faced mid-engine supercars of the last 10 years; the second step is the similarly less angry 296 GTB. More significantly this car points toward Ferrari’s electrified future. The SF90 and the 296 are just the start; we’ll likely see a full generation of hybrid supercars from the brand before the switch to full battery power happens. This car, as a first try, is astonishing. We can only imagine where Ferrari goes from here.