The world first saw it at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year in March, and now the Ferrari F8 Tributo has been launched in Malaysia. You can make quite a few of us jealous by putting your order in – it’s priced at RM1,068,000 (without duties and any customisation) – but deliveries may take a while. Read: early 2020.

Will the wait be worth it? Well, the F8 boasts the most powerful V8 ever in non-special series Ferrari. This multiple Best Engine award winner cranks out 720cv (that’s Italian/Ferrari talk for 710hp) at a screaming 8,000rpm and 770Nm from 3,250Nm. That hauls the car’s 1,330kg of (dry) weight, helping to deliver a 0-100kph in 2.9 seconds and 200kph in 7.8 seconds. V-Max is 340kph.

Let’s compare that to the 488 GTB, the car it replaces. The F8 Tributo is 50hp more powerful, 40kg lighter, and faster by 0.1s and 0.4s faster respectively. It also laps the Fiorano test track faster by half a second compared to the 488.

Ferrari claims the car has zero turbo lag, the same promise said about the V8 in the front-engined Portofino and that’s quite accurate. The F8 is slippier by 10 per cent courtesy of lesson’s extracted from the track, which is also how they managed to make the new car deal with engine heat better. For instance, the rearward-angled front radiators and the dynamic engine air intakes are now positioned at the sides of the spoiler. The F8 adopts the 488 GTB’s S-Duct too, but a redesign results in 15 per cent more downforce than before.

Helping along with driving dynamics is the latest Side Slip Angle Control and the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE+, activated by switching the mannetino switch to Race.)

It’s also got a redesigned cockpit that boasts a smaller diameter steering wheel, the latest HMI (human-machine interface) and 7-inch touchscreen.