This is the Roma's replacement: meet the new Ferrari Amalfi... now with buttons!

Alert: a new Ferrari with a badge you can actually pronounce!

After mouthfuls like Purosangue and Dodici Cilindri, it’s a relief to meet the new Amalfi, named after the posh holiday destination on Italy’s southern coast. And that’s far from the only piece of common sense you’ll find in the new Roma-replacing coupe.

It’s also quit the power wars. While the latest Aston Martin Vantage develops north of 650bhp and the next Porsche 911 Turbo is set to breach 700, Ferrari has only added 20bhp to the Roma’s 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8. As a result, the Amalfi develops 631bhp and goes from 0-62mph in a manageable 3.3 seconds. That’s almost sensible these days. Keep your foot down and you’ll pass 125mph in nine seconds dead and top out at 200mph. Easy does it.

There’s nothing revolutionary about the mechanics. Just fettling. The Amalfi keeps its eight-speed twin-clutch gearbox at the back and drives only the rear tyres. There’s no hybrid system or complicated active AWD. Ferrari says it’s lightened the camshafts and tweaked the exhaust so the V8 feels revvier and zippy, then beavered away on the driving modes so there’s a wider spread of moods to choose between.

This is an entry-level Ferrari after all. A gateway to the kingdom. Wet and Comfort mode are apparently more relaxed than in the Roma, so newbies don’t get scared. Meanwhile the aggression in Sport and Race has been amped up, so keen wannabe ‘piloti’ feel even more heroic while sixth-generation Side Slip Control keeps them shiny side up.

Speaking of… the bodywork’s apparently all new with only glass carried over from the Roma. But the Amalfi’s had some tweaks that might prove controversial. Not so much at the back, which now has sterner looking taillight surrounds and a neater rear wing with three positions on offer, generating up to 110kg of rearward downforce.

No tradition-breaking down the sides too: curvaceous haunches and smooth flanks make for an elegant profile. And the old bonnet’s slightly embarrassing power dome has been ironed out. But the front? That’s… going to take some getting used to.

Ferrari’s design boss Flavio Manzoni isn’t a fan of cars with ‘faces’. He doesn’t want you to see headlights as eyes and a grille as a mouth. That’s why the F80 and 12Cilindri wear that black blindfold to create a minimalist ‘visor’ effect.

The Amalfi borrows some ideas from the Purosangue’s front to hide the parking sensors more neatly than the Roma did. Slashes in the headlights help channel air where Ferrari’s wind tunnel boffins decreed. But the result is a car with a tricky-to-read expression. It’s like looking into the cold, lifeless eyes of The Stig. Who might not even have eyes.

So it’s more smoothly styled, supposedly un-terrifying to drive (we’ll find out if that’s true next year) and the name doesn’t require a linguistics degree. But the most sensible design choice in the Amalfi? That’s to be found inside.

Yes, Ferrari has finally seen sense, listened to owners (and us) and brought back buttons. No more horrid touch-sensitive controls on the busy steering wheel… though they have been used for the mirror adjusters. Ah well. Maybe they’ll sort that next time.

Owners dismayed at the current touch-sensitive Engine Start can now have a proper button just like the good old days, though the rest of the Amalfi’s interior remains fully digitised. No physical climate controls, a new 10.25in landscape touchscreen and the optional show-off-to-your-passenger display all feature brightly. Apple CarPlay now lives in the middle so you don’t have to choose between a map and a rev-counter.

In fact Ferrari’s totally rethought its 2+2-seater’s cabin, dispensing with the Roma’s steep waterfall dashboard for something wider and more spacious looking. Don’t spec too much carbon inside: you’ll miss out on a anodised aluminium ‘bridge’ console.

If you like gorgeously machined metal, crouch down next to the carefully milled wheels. And drool. Spot the material removed from between the outer tips of each twisted spoke, to save weight. Each one is an engineering marvel. Think about that before speccing them in black. And kerbing them.

The Amalfi will arrive with its first customers in early 2026, and they’ll each have paid somewhere north of €260,000 (£222k) in return.

So, plenty of time to debate the big questions. Is the Amalfi pretty enough, or did you prefer the Roma? Should other carmakers follow Ferrari’s ‘that’s enough horses now’ example on power?

And have we – at long last – finally passed the low point for annoying interiors? Welcome back, buttons. We’ve missed you…