Ferrari have made a further change to the name of their 2011 Formula 1 car – and hit out at Ford for complaining that people might be confused between the Italian racer and the American firm's pick-up truck brand.
Originally the 2011 Ferrari was known as the F150, a name chosen to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy – a choice that many commentators felt was a nod to team president Luca di Montezemolo's future political ambitions.
But Ford then initiated legal action, claiming that Ferrari were infringing the F-150 trademark that they used for their pick-up truck.
Ferrari responded by amending the name of their F1 car to F150th Italia, and on Friday Ford said they considered the matter resolved.
However Ferrari were not finished yet, and announced on their website that the car would henceforth be known as the 150° Italia.
"In order to avoid the slightest risk of anyone confusing a Formula 1 car with a pick-up truck, for their part, the men from Maranello have decided that the car will lose the F that precedes the number 150 and which stands for Ferrari, as it has done on numerous occasions when it's come to giving a car a code name, be it for the race track or the road," said Ferrari in a strongly-worded column on their website entitled the 'Horse Whisperer'.
"It appears that this could have caused so much confusion in the minds of the consumer across the Pond that, at the same time as losing the F, the name will be completely Italianised, replacing the English 'th' with the equivalent Italian symbol.
"Therefore the name will now read as the Ferrari 150° Italia, which should make it clear even to the thickest of people that the name of the car is a tribute to the anniversary of the unification of our country."
The column hinted that Ferrari had found the row something of an annoyance during their build-up to the 2011 world championship.
"Let's hope the matter is now definitely closed and that we can concentrate on more serious matters, namely ensuring that our car that already seems to be pretty good out of the box, becomes a real winner."