GIMME SHELTER

I WATCHED THE COMPELLING, IF INCREDIBLY sad, documentary, Challenger: The Final Flight, on Netflix recently, where the key revelation is (spoiler alert) that the engineers knew the rocket-booster O-rings might fail but gave the go-ahead for the launch, causing NASA’s space shuttle (this bit you know) to transform into a kind of 9/11 at 46,000 feet.

This cataclysmic disaster springs to mind as I squeeze the Ferrari 812 GTS’ throttle pedal to the floor in third gear on a slightly damp Scottish road. Said pedal controls Ferrari’s most powerful ever series-production 12-cylinder motor, a 6.5-litre version of the F140 unit conceived originally for the 2002 Enzo and whose performance is bettered only by the hybrid-boosted LaFerrari hypercar and limited Monza SP1 and SP2 models that squeeze out 10 hp more.

Compared to the 740-hp F12, the 812’s predecessor, Ferrari have introduced a longer stroke plus 350 bar direct injection, revised control of variable-geometry inlet tracts, a compression ratio upped just a fraction to 13.6:1 and a shrieky, non-turbocharged 8,900-rpm peak engine speed, far above rivals from Aston and Bentley that