- An F-35B and Ferrari SF90 will race at Grottaglie Air Base
- Barone’s tuned Ferrari hits 330 km/h across the 500-meter sprint
- The jet completes its takeoff exactly as the race course ends
The Italian Navy has organized an unusual matchup between one of its F-35B fighter jets and a Ferrari SF90 sports car.
Set for October 11 2026 at the Grottaglie air base in southern Italy, the event pits vertical takeoff aircraft against Formula-tuned horsepower.
Fabio Barone, who holds seven speed records in Ferrari vehicles, will drive the car during the contest.
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A runway built for landing, not racing
The first race covers 500 meters along an aluminum runway typically reserved for F-35B landing approaches at the base.
At that distance, the jet will complete its takeoff just as the course ends. Barone said his Ferrari normally accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds under standard settings.
With specialized engine adjustments applied for the event, that time drops slightly to 2.6 seconds flat. Over the full 500-meter stretch, the car is expected to hit 330 km/h before finishing.
“With that acceleration, I will face 2.2g, meaning 140kg of pressure” said Barone, adding the jet will likely start more slowly but carries far greater raw power overall.
A longer second race stretches across 2.8 km, combining both asphalt and aluminum surfaces along the runway.
After the first 500 meters, the aircraft will take flight and finish the course airborne. It will fly roughly 20 meters above the ground for the remainder of that longer race.
The F-35B and FS90 will share a single runway only 35 meters wide, and driving at high speeds over the aluminum plates could destabilize the car’s handling
Echoes of a Formula 1 stunt from 2003
Races between military jets and race cars are not without precedent in Italy, dating back over two decades.
In 2003, Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher raced a Ferrari against an Italian Air Force Eurofighter jet at Grosseto air base (see main picture) in a contest which drew a crowd of roughly 50,000 spectators to watch the two machines go head-to-head.
The Eurofighter won two of those races, covering 900 and 1,200 meters, without ever leaving the ground.
Schumacher still won a shorter 600-meter sprint, reaching 294 km/h and finishing the course in 9.6 seconds, beating the jet by two tenths of a second, despite the aircraft’s clear power advantage.
Barone has his own history staging similar stunts involving military hardware and Ferrari engineering, having previously driven a Ferrari along the flight deck of the Navy’s Trieste carrier vessel, reaching 164 km/h across roughly 200 meters before braking hard to avoid going overboard.
Barone said the appeal of racing a fighter jet comes from doing something genuinely unusual in public view.
“Everyone can race against another car, and this is a chance to put on a show,” he said, citing Schumacher’s 2003 run as inspiration.
Public stunts pairing military aircraft against sports cars tend to favor spectacle over strict competitive fairness.
Whichever machine crosses the finish line first, the event mainly serves as a marketing moment for both the Navy and Ferrari.
Via DefenseNews
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