In the first three races, the SF-24 scored three podium finishes and one victory. Thanks to the Dutchman’s retirement, Leclerc is 4 points behind Verstappen, Ferrari 4 points behind Red Bull. This is something that can make Ferrari fans smile if seen from a different perspective.
On the one hand, Bahrain and Melbourne were not the simplest races that the Monegasque can remember, on the other hand having achieved many points can convey optimism where the new Ferrari demonstrates that it can grow rapidly in development, at least as much as Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz was superior at Albert Park, even considering his fitness level post-surgery. He took his third victory in Red in impressive fashion. If he had raced in Jeddah, he would certainly have obtained at least 12 points, overtaking even Verstappen in the championship lead. An initial picture, of course, and yet it is something unthinkable in retrospect.
Red Bull has provided a sign of vulnerability that hasn’t been seen for some time, something that goes even beyond the reliability problem suffered by the No.1.
The cars could not have perfect settings to prevent graining problems, putting themselves in an annoying understeer bias to resolve. Everyone expects an immediate reaction at Suzuka to demonstrate that it was a one-time event.
It is reasonable to expect that there will be. Not too many months ago, Ferrari went from victory in Singapore to a very devastating defeat in Japan. Verstappen left no questions about his superiority at last year’s Grand Prix in Suzuka.
Nobody believes that the reigning champion car will have significant difficulties on Japanese soil, it would be surprising to say the least.
The new Ferrari in the launch specification was defined as conservative in its lines, however having very clean surfaces at the basis of the project was exactly the aim.
Ferrari has shown a curious technical characteristic. The car produces a downforce that is not very sensitive to wing specification. An unloaded wing was not used in Jeddah because it was considered potentially too light. Ultimately, the SF-24 paid the price in terms of top speed for this conservative decision.
Even without the old tubs, the evolved bonnet has remained slim since the F1-75. Which directly helps the general efficiency, indirectly the beam wing to be the protagonist in producing more load at an acceptable price. It’s something we’ve seen done on the RB18 and RB19. A slightly different version was brought with the RB20, which introduced the famous Mercedes blow cannons.
La Rossa used a single rear wing specification to manoeuvre from medium-high to medium-low load. Direct competition, i.e. Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren, two; someone like Racing Bull, even three.
The sequential layouts of Japan, China, Miami, and Imola are all medium or medium-high load tracks. It can be assumed that this configuration will be more or less maintained in the next races, with some local adaptations, until the first updated version of the SF-24, which was approved on Friday.
“GES”, THE HISTORIC INTERNAL ACRONYM OF THE SVILUPPO SPORTIVA, GOES INTO THE ARCHIVE. IT IS NOW KNOWN AS “SF” OR SCUDERIA
A renewal of internal communication dictated this choice, with new key figures emerging. It is believed to use more immediate and closely identifying jargon with Scuderia Ferrari.
Meanwhile, after the mini Easter break, the team is preparing for Suzuka, where it will leave on Tuesday.
