The race in Austin was a triumphant Sunday for Ferrari. An unexpected, but not casual one-two: the SF-24 put on a display of its strength throughout the 56 laps. From a second row start, the two red cars showed a far superior race pace far superior compared to Verstappen’s Red Bull but also of both McLarens, who raced very conservatively out of fear that the MCL38 could not complete the race with a single stop.
Not only Maranello was curious to see how the SF-24 would perform on a more convential track like the Circuit of the Americas compared to the previous events in Monza, Baku and Marina Bay, after the major upgrades brought in Italy and Singapore. Leclerc took advantage of the fight between Norris and Verstappen, and gained an early lead which allowed him to dominate the United States GP. The pit wall then made the right call allowing Sainz to undercut Verstappen in the pit stop phase once the data showed that a one-stop was not only doable, but also the faster strategy, as opposed to what Pirelli predicted before the start. Maranello has now conquered a total of 4 wins so far, matching the tally obtained two years ago with the F1-75, with five races to go in the championship. The SF-24 has grown technically throughout the season and this has brought a high morale inside the team who is aware that the work done behind the scenes has been excellent after the struggles started at the Spanish GP. This was not a given.
The “flexi” front wing was used during Mugello’s Pirelli test which helped optimising the package
The Circuit of the Americas wouldn’t have been a good track for the non-updated SF-24, which struggled massively in high speed corners. However the package introduced in Monza heavily changed the floor of the SF-24 to try to correct the mistakes made on the Barcelona-spec floor, and there was a lot of confidence. The American circuit is among the most complete on the calendar and the Sprint weekend went in Ferrari ’s favour, as Red Bull and Mclaren were bringing “important” upgrades according to the two teams, while in Maranello the updates sheet turned out to be completely blank.
Initially the new front wing design was set to make its debut in Austin but, as anticipated by formu1a.uno, a ‘basic’ version was fitted on the car already in Singapore. The wing was further evolved in Texas in terms of flexibility of composite materials. This was an undeclared upgrade, as the aerodynamic shapes of the wing have remained the same, but it gave a big hand in terms of efficiency in the high speed sections, precisely where the SF-24 surprisingly turned out to be the best car on Sunday.
There is another interesting backstory on the new wing: the debut in Singapore allowed Ferrari to carry out an important work of optimization during the Pirelli tests held in Mugello a couple of weeks ago, with numerous back-to-back comparisons between the two specifications. The new ‘more flexi’ front wing made a considerable contribution according to a source very close to the Maranello team and was immediately promoted by Sainz while it took Leclerc more time in adapting to the new balance at high speeds. Setup changes between Sprint Race and Main Race allowed him to dominate the race, even compared to his teammate. This is how the SF-24, at least in Austin, made an important step forward in the high-speed corners, while still not losing other strong points as it confirmed good performance in the slow speed.
The WCC still open: McLaren conservative while Red Bull hangs on and prioritizes Verstappen
This version of the SF-24 is making the Tifosi dream, with a Constructors’ Championship that could be far from over if Ferrari ‘s performance in Austin is confirmed in the coming rounds. However early conclusions are easily proven wrong in this era of Formula 1, and that is why McLaren remains the favorite. Nonetheless, even in Texas Andrea Stella’s team lacked of the ability to read the race. The MCL38’s upgrade package was important, even though the upgrade lacked in new parts underneath the floor which is the most performance-sensitive area, but the Papaya car did not live up to previous races and was not adequately supported by its first driver, Lando Norris, who again failed to convert Saturday’s Pole in a win and 25 points.
On the other side while struggling in the Constructors’ championship battle, Red Bull clings to the usual Max Verstappen. Just like in Austria Verstappen was on the winning side of his battle with Norris, once again perhaps too naïve together with his team: giving back the position would’ve allowed other chances at taking the podium position. Technically speaking, Austin was also highly anticipated at Red Bull: the RB20 was fitted with a totally revised floor for Verstappen, which also included the Ferrari like keel tested in Baku free practice by the world champion team, as well as new sidepods. For Perez, on the other hand, the floor was a less optimized version and therefore overweight compared to his teammate’s. It is clear that the budget cap is a factor that Christian Horner’s team has to navigate around and this certainly represents a major limitation, although the updates on the RB20 do not seem to be finished yet.
