This is the Ferrari F12tdf, a faster, lighter and more powerful special edition of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.

Ferrari says the car has been created in homage to the legendary Tour de France road races, which it dominated in the 1950s and 1960s with the likes of the 1956 250 GT Berlinetta.

Read the first drive verdict here

The F12tdf is described as “the ultimate expression of the concept of an extreme road car that is equally at home on the track”. Just 799 examples will be built.

The car keeps the same 6.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine as the regular F12 Berlinetta, but power has been boosted from 730bhp to 770bhp at 8500rpm, while torque has increased from 509lb ft to 520lb ft at 6750rpm. Ferrari says 80% of the car’s torque is available from 2500rpm.

By comparison, McLaren's 675LT features a 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine and produces 660bhp and 516lb ft - enough to give it a 0-62mph sprint time of 2.9 seconds. The older Ferrari 458 Speciale, meanwhile, made 597bhp from its 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8.

The new Ferrari is capable of reaching 62mph in 2.9sec and has a top speed of more than 211mph. Official fuel consumption is rated at 18.3mpg, with CO2 emissions of 360g/km. Ferrari says it has has used various modifications derived from its F1 cars to boost the engine’s efficiency.

The F12tdf uses a new version of the firm’s dual-clutch automatic transmission, which features shorter gear ratios.

New one-piece brake calipers – the same as those used on the LaFerrari supercar – are said to provide “outstanding” stopping distances, allowing the F12tdf to brake from 62-0mph in 30.5 metres.

Ferrari says the car’s performance is “second to none”, but that it has also been conceived to be “an extremely agile and powerful car which could also be driven by less expert drivers”. The F12tdf has lapped Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in 1min 21sec. The regular F12 Berlinetta completed the lap in 1min 23sec - the same as the new 488. The LaFerrari currently holds the fastest time on the course, with a time of 1min 19.70sec.

Among the other changes made to the F12tdf are larger front tyres, allowing greater lateral acceleration through corners.

Ferrari says the car’s “natural tendency” to oversteer has been compensated for by the use of a new rear-wheel steering system. Dubbed Virtual Short Wheelbase, the system – which automatically adjusts the rear wheels for the optimum steering angle - is said to increase stability at high speeds while guaranteeing “the steering wheel response times and turn-in of a competition car”.