At the European at the Ferrari campus in Maranello, Italy, this week, the current Formula 1 champion constructor announced that it was working with Microsoft on developing a high-performance solution as part of its automotive design, simulation and engineering process.

"Ferrari is always looking for the most advanced technical solutions, and of course the same applies for software and engineering," said Piergiorgio Grossi, head of information systems at the Ferrari Racing Department.

"We are always scouting new technologies that can give us a competitive advantage. Windows HPC Server 2008 is very promising, and [Microsoft's] long-lasting collaboration with Ferrari will give directions to develop a fast, familiar, high-performance computing platform for our users, engineers and administrators."

Ferrari has been using computer simulation software running from Ansys subsidiary Fluent on a Linux-powered server cluster since July 2004, and while Grossi doesn't see the firm's development systems moving entirely over to Microsoft-powered clusters, HPC Server does have its advantages in terms of the system's familiar interface.

"Our computing ecosystem is 90 percent based on one operating system, and our engineers and users are used to Windows. HPC Server can be plugged easily into the existing infrastructure, which makes it easier for us to manage," said Grossi.