




Ferrari announced during the first practice day of this weekend's Monza GP that Kimi Raikkonen's contract has been extended by one year. This mean's he's locked into service with the scuderia until the end of 2010, which is the same time Felipe Massa's contract runs out. Terms of the extension weren't disclosed, but the fact that Ferrari re-signed the Iceman means they aren't nearly as worried about his recent form as the rest of the paddock appears to be. It also means that Fernando Alonso can now decide where he wants to go for at least two years and get the silly season officially over with.



If you have the money, good taste, and connections to score the 510 hp F430 Scuderia, you likely know what the lightweight supercar from Maranello is capable of. When Ferrari decides to produce an exotic with 60 millisecond shifts and a 5.4 pound-per-pony ratio, you just know that it's track worthy. That means you're going to need something to protect your noggin when you head out to the road course. German helmet maker Schuberth Helme was commissioned to create head gear that exudes Ferrari coolness while also providing comfortable, lightweight protection for the driver. A quick glance at the photo above proves the mission was accomplished.
The helmet sports the dual racing strip of the Scuderia, and the exposed carbon fiber is good looking enough to negate the need for any manner of paint decoration. Four slotted air vents keep the head cool, and since the helmet is made of carbon fiber, its total weight is a little over two pounds. The helmet also sports a UV-protected visor to keep the sun out of your eyes, too. If you've got the money to spring for a Scuderia, you may as well go the extra mile and get one of the coolest-looking helmets on earth, regardless of the cost.
Following yesterday's report that Michael Schumacher had crashed a prototype Ferrari 430 Scuderia on the Nurburgring, some things have come into focus, but little has become any clearer. Ferrari insists that, although Schumi had been driving the car that day, it was actually the factory's road car test driver Raffaele de Simone who was driving when the car hit the guardrail at 250 km/h. Photographs show that the 7-time world champion had been driving the car with his young son Mick – himself just starting out in karting – riding shotgun... with neither of them wearing helmets. Meanwhile, though the car is being described as a prototype, nothing about the exterior of the car appears different (aside from the Perspex sliding windows, and of course the "aerodynamic modifications" around the rear left wheel), and though the car was described as a right-off, the damage looks quite minimal for a 155-mph collision.
