Nobody got paid off it has always been and never more then now the case that if the magazine or the writer gives a bad review they will never be flown in and given special privilege to do story's on any more F cars they have to tow the line.
This is absolutely the case, and a number of car journalists will freely admit it off the record. They don't like it but most see no way around it. The interest among car enthusiasts of all sorts is so high regarding Ferrari, that if you get cut off not just from free flights but just getting to attend meetings at all, you have a real problem, like maybe being out of work.
It's almost comical at times seeing these guys try to walk the fine line between a total falsehood and offending Ferrari. Chassis flex on the 458 spider is a great example. Anyone who has actually driven these cars know that they have a lot of flex, including the steering wheel jumping around in your hands over less than smooth roads. An owner in Atlanta posted over in FerrariChat about how he took a lead technician from Ferrari NA out in his car to show him the steering wheel movement and other flex related items and asked him directly if this is normal? The answer was a simple yes. Now go back and read the reviews and see the way they get around having to make the statement "the 12C spider has no flex and the Ferrari has quite a bit".
The only writer I know of who is bucking this is Chris Harris who called Ferrari out on one of their ringer press cars. He is somewhat artfully turning the Ferrari backlash against him to his advantage by doing things like showing up in disguise at Ferrari events and getting filmed doing it. He's trying to claim the ground of being the only writer willing to stand up and tell the truth. Seems to be working for him so far.