F-35 vs Ferrari: Italian Navy to pit fighter jet against supercar in high-speed race

The Italian Navy is preparing for an unusual acceleration test. An F-35B fighter jet will race a Ferrari SF90 on a runway at the Navy’s air base in Grottaglie, southern Italy. The matchup is scheduled for October 11 and will pit one of the world’s most advanced short-takeoff and vertical-landing fighters against a road-going hybrid supercar. The event is designed to compare the two machines over short distances, before the F-35B takes to the air. Ferrari versus F-35B The first race will cover 500 meters (1,640 feet) on an aluminum runway used by the Italian Navy’s F-35Bs for landing, Tom Kington from Defense News reported. Both machines will accelerate from a standing start, with the fighter expected to take longer to get moving but potentially make up ground as its power builds. Ferrari driver Fabio Barone, who has previously set seven speed records in Ferrari cars, will drive the SF90. He said the car normally accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.8 seconds, but modifications to its engine are expected to reduce that to about 2.6 seconds for the event. Barone expects the Ferrari to reach approximately 330 km/h (around 205 mph) during the 1,640-foot run and complete it in roughly eight to nine seconds. The driver also expects acceleration forces of around 2.2g during the run. The F-35B has a very different job. Rather than relying on wheels and a conventional drivetrain, it uses a Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan and its short-takeoff and vertical-landing system to generate thrust. The aircraft is expected to start more slowly than the Ferrari but has considerably greater power available as it accelerates. At the end of the first 1,640 feet race, the F-35B will take off. The second race gets even stranger A second contest will combine a ground race with flight. The 2.8-kilometer (1.74-mile) course will use both asphalt and aluminum surfaces. The Ferrari and F-35B will initially accelerate side by side, but after the first 1,640 feet, the fighter will take off and continue the race in flight at about 20 meters (66 feet). According to Defense News, the two machines will share a runway about 35 meters (about 115 feet) wide, leaving roughly 15 meters (roughly 49 feet) between them during the ground portion of the race. For Barone, driving on the aluminum plates could be one of the biggest challenges. He expects the surface to generate more vibration than conventional asphalt. The event will therefore test two very different interpretations of acceleration. The Ferrari’s ability to rapidly convert engine power into forward motion through its tires, and the F-35B’s ability to turn enormous thrust into acceleration before transitioning into flight. A tradition of racing cars against fighters In 2003, Formula One driver Michael Schumacher raced a Ferrari Formula One car against an Italian Air Force Eurofighter at Grosseto Air Base. The Eurofighter won the longer 900-meter (2,953-foot) and 1,200-meter (3,937-foot) races without taking off, while Schumacher won the 600-meter (1,969-foot) contest. Schumacher reached 294 km/h (183 mph) and completed the 600-meter (1,969-foot) run in 9.6 seconds, beating the fighter by two-tenths of a second. Barone has his own history with unusual aviation-related Ferrari runs. In 2025, he drove a Ferrari along the flight deck of the Italian Navy’s Trieste amphibious assault ship, reaching 164 km/h (102 mph) over approximately 200 meters (around 656 feet) before braking at the end of the deck. In October 2007, Lincolnshire, UK, Top Gear staged a unique two-mile drag race pitting presenter Richard Hammond in a 1,001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron against RAF Flight Lieutenant Jim Walls in a Eurofighter Typhoon jet. The rules required the car to sprint a mile down the runway and back, while the jet took off, climbed a mile vertically, and dived back down to the finish line. Despite the Veyron taking an early lead off the line, the Eurofighter Typhoon utilized its superior jet thrust to overtake the hypercar and claim a comfortable victory. The upcoming F-35B race continues that tradition, but with a modern fighter designed specifically to operate from short runways and ships. The result will ultimately depend on how the two machines are matched over each distance. A Ferrari may have the advantage during the first few seconds, while the F-35B’s enormous thrust becomes more useful as speed builds and the fighter has one ability its four-wheeled rival does not: it can simply leave the runway. Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Kaif Shaikh is a journalist and writer passionate about turning complex information into clear, impactful stories. His writing covers technology, sustainability, geopolitics, and occasionally fiction. A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, his work has appeared in the Times of India and beyond. After a near-fatal experience, Kaif began seeing both stories and silences differently. Outside work, he juggles far too many projects and passions, but always makes time to read, reflect, and hold onto the thread of wonder.