This image is rumoured to show the Ferrari 599 successor, a supercar that is expected to be the most powerful road car in Ferrari’s history, with more than 700bhp on tap.

The latest offering from Maranello is due to be officially unveiled next Wednesday. It has already been partly seen in a couple teaser videos issued by the Italian manufacturer and was also captured in testing spy pictures earlier this year. This new image, which apparently shows a new Ferrari, was first leaked to the GTspirit.com website. Speculation has suggested this image shows a wooden styling model designed to show how the finished car will look.

Precise details of the new 599 are scarce ahead of next week's launch, but it will be powered by the next generation of the direct-injection 6.3-litre V12 used in the FF, an engine based on the original 599/Enzo unit and capable of 850bhp in the FXX Evoluzione.

Reports suggest the 599 replacement will have 710bhp. The current 599 GTB has 612bhp in standard tune. Ferrari’s new flagship will also feature breakthrough structural and detailed engineering design to ensure that it is lighter than the model it replaces.

These weight savings will have to be delivered by Ferrari’s alloy monocoque body and not carbonfibre, which has been the route pursued by Lamborghini and McLaren. Ferrari believes that carbonfibre is not yet suitable for the kind of volume production required for the 599 replacement.