The steering is beautifully weighted, with super-sharp turn-in when in Sport mode (there’s no Race setting on the Manettino, this being in Ferrari’s GT model line-up), and incredible front-end grip. The second area of focus has been tyre management. Pirelli hasmoved towardsnew front tyres to help reduce understeer, something that could well suit what Ferrari’s concept needs as well as the driving style of Leclerc.

That fact that it’s still an attractive-looking machine is testament to the effort put in. The nose is particularly good-looking, in my opinion, while the rear is neat, considering the car’s role as a proper family car with a decent boot; reminiscent of the FF from certain angles. There is a short coilover spring at each corner, and these do compress under load, though Ferrari told us they’re not strictly needed during driving – they’re mainly necessary to suspend the car when parked and switched off. Just six laps were completed between the two drivers in accordance with F1's demonstration run regulations, but the car will return to Fiorano on Wednesday to complete a further 100km before heading to Bahrain next week for the start of official pre-season testing.We call it the laboratory,” says Enrico Galliera, Ferrari’s commercial chief and the man who oversees the Corse Clienti programme (Ferrari’s arm that will sell you anything that’s not a road car, including old F1 cars) in which the XX cars sit. Extract from Jean Todt, Ferrari’s most successful team principal, “When we speak about the difference in perceptions between Ferrari from the inside and Ferrari from the outside, my experience developed over the years. But when I arrived, people had no faith in me because I was French; I had no experience in F1, so they thought, ‘Okay, he’s coming for one or two years, to make some money and leave.’ But then, over the years, they realized that I was focused because I was in the factory day and night with the team, and I was really putting in all the effort. Enzo Ferrari considered the engine to be the heart of a car, and a V12 engine has always been the beating heart of Ferrari, so using the 812 Superfast-derived 6.5-litre unit (albeit with a bespoke intake and exhaust, with optimised cylinder heads and timing) in the Purosangue marries the marque’s thoroughbred tradition to a modern, arguably necessary, bodystyle.

Ferrari developed an all-new active suspension system for the Purosangue, and it’s an astonishing feat of engineering. Having sat through the extensive technical briefing and Q&A session, and asked the chief chassis engineer for further explanation of how it works, it’s still boggling my mind so trying to explain it in broad brushstrokes here is no easy task, but let’s give it a go, anyway. I think the priority for everybody is reliability because when you are at this stage of the season and you don't have the reliability, you are not able to do the three days [testing] and then you are starting on the wrong foot," Vasseur said. "Based on the data from the dyno we are all optimistic, but only Bahrain will tell us where we are in terms of reliability and performance. So far it is OK. Then there’s the mould production process. Today the sand moulds are made by machine, but it is intricate human skill that ensures perfect productions every time: once made (a process that involves blasting the sand with sulphur dioxide to strengthen it), a machinist works over each mould, marking defects, and cleaning burrs by hand. A mistake here could mean a component defect, deep within an engine at a later date, so attention to detail at this stage is crucial. I don’t much like racing,” says Lyon. “You’re often dealing with egos bigger than the talent available. If they win, they tend to forget how it happened, which can be frustrating. So these days, our race projects tend to be for friends we know.”In the front, the seats are comfortable and there’s a heavily sculpted dashboard with touches that retain a familiar Ferrari feel, including a steering wheel heavy on buttons and drive-mode selectors. Ergonomics are improved over the Ferrari Roma and 296, so it’s easier to scroll through a reduced number of screens. Sat-nav is by smartphone link only. Although Villeneuve’s feelings were well known, Postlethwaite downplayed the impact in the camp. “I think the animosity that was supposed to have been between them was blown up out of proportion,” he insisted. Postlethwaite confirmed that Enzo Ferrari had a soft spot for Villeneuve, who first raced for him at the end of 1977. For the driver, it’s also not ideal having every piece of info housed on the main driver display, as it means compromises in terms of clarity — especially when it comes to using navigation as the route is crammed into a tiny space making it hard to follow.