If Scuderia Ferrari drivers Alonso and Massa don’t do well in qualifying next year, it won’t be because they didn’t have the best tools with which to practice. Ferrari has built a driving simulator that could well be the Ferrari of driving simulators. It took two years to build, is 18-feet high, takes up two stories and received assistance from Moog, a control systems maker primarly known for its work wit the U.S. military’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The sim rests a base that, by itself, weighs two hundred tons, and on top of that are a platform and actuators that support the aluminum and composite driving structure. The driver watches his progress on five displays good for more than 180 degrees of viewing, and hears his progress through a 3,500-watt Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound system. It has ten microprocessors and 60GB of RAM, and produces 5GB of data per day.

Italian pub, Quattroroute reports Ferrari will show its first road-going hybrid next March at the Geneva Motor Show. Based on the 599 GTB, the Ferrari hybrid is expected to use a derivative of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used on the prancing horse’s Formula One cars during part of the 2009 season.

The KERS setup and the concept will reportedly use a lithium ion battery pack, and based on the diagram (right) the road car will have the battery and the power electonics mounted on either side of the rear transaxle, with an electric motor incorporated into the transaxle itself. If the road car is similar to the race car, this will essentially be a mild hybrid system providing automatic start-stop, regenerative braking and electric boost. Judging by the battery size, Ferrari won’t offer any pure electric propulsion. The system is expected to boost urban driving mileage by over 30 percent from the current 8.7 mpg (US) to a slightly less miserable 13.8 mpg.

There are hearts breaking all over Italy, and the biggest one of all is that which beats in the chest of Ferrari head Luca de Montezemolo. Michael Schumacher is still under contract to The Prancing Horse as a global ambassador and consultant for their road cars. However, given the opportunity to return to a Formula One cockpit and prove a thing or ten, he appears keen on racing no matter the color of the car.

Neither Schumacher nor the Mercedes F1 team is revealing anything public about the German’s chances of driving, but it’s been in the press for a few weeks now. Last week, Schumacher phoned Montezemolo and told him there was a “very, very, very strong possibility” he’d end up as a driver for Mercedes. Speculation is that the final say is only waiting on Schumacher’s neck to be declared fully healed after his motorcycle accident earlier this year.

If the 41-year-old Schumy does race again with Mercedes, it will be with the company that put him on the road to becoming one of the greatest racing drivers ever. And it will come at the expense of a muy doloroso de Montezemolo, who is so torn up about Michael switching camps that he has taken to calling the former Ferrari driver “the real Michael Schumacher,” and the potential Mercedes pilot, “the new Michael Schumacher.”

It’s been a little over a year since Ferrari released the California. It was Maranello’s first front-engined V8, bearing its first dual-clutch transmission, its first folding hard-top, and its first standard fitment of carbon-ceramic brakes. Unfortunately Ferrari found public reception to the convertible’s styling rather cold, and although we found it looked much better drenched in soft Sicilian sunlight than it does it photos, not everyone’s a fan.

Fortunately there’s an elite cadre of Ferrari tuners eager to spruce up Maranello’s finest - as well as their more controversial designs. Hamann’s one, and they’ve taken their shot at the California already. So has Edo Competition. Now it’s Novitec Rosso’s turn.

The Dutch tuning garage has just released a full array of modifications for the 2+ cabrio, starting with a revised ECU for a modest 40 horsepower bump to 500 even. A sport suspension drops the ride height by 35 millimeters, but it can be raised up front by as much as 40 mm to clear curbs and speed bumps. Outside, Novitec’s fitted a carbon fiber aero kit with front lip spoiler, side skirts, revised diffuser and a little rear wing, along with modular rims measuring 21 inches up front and 22 in the rear, shod with Pirelli rubber.

While opinions remain divided as to the sacriligiosity of tuning a Ferrari, in the California’s case it could be - to some eyes anyway - just what the doctor ordered.

Ferrari has stumbled upon one heck of a formula with its XX development programs. They’ve found that their most wealthy clients aren’t just willing to help Maranello develop new components for future supercars, they’re actually willing to pay for the privilege. And pay big, too - as in $2 million big.

The program started with the Enzo-based FXX, evolved with the FXX Evoluzione, and carries on with the Fiorano-based 599XX. So what’s next up Ferrari’s sleeve? A 458XX wouldn’t be too far off the mark.

If the outgoing lineup (and those that came before) can serve as any indication, the new mid-engined V8 sports car is poised to spawn numerous variations, including the requisite Spider, a new Challenge-spec racer, a replacement for the existing F430 GT2, a stripped-down successor to the 360 CS and 430 Scuderia, and, if this speculative rendering from Luxury4Play has its way, a 458XX as well.