Last year we left with a question: in 2024 will there be a team capable of keeping up with Red Bull or will it be another season of absolute domination? At the moment there have been two races - both dominated by Red Bull - and we are approaching the third, in Australia. There are still few to judge. But the music doesn't seem to have changed. And this is a credit that must be given to the Austrian team who was able to exploit the winter to bring a single-seater to the track that was even more ambitious than the previous one. But Red Bull isn't the only team to have made progress. In fact, in second place, occupying the third and last step of the podium available is Ferrari. The debut of the SF-24 left Enrico Cardile, Ferrari chassis manager, quite satisfied and took stock of the strengths and weaknesses of the SF-24.
The first positive confirmations
The Maranello team established itself as the second overall force both in Bahrain and Jeddah. The SF-24 may not be at the level of the RB20 but it has proven to be an excellent base on which to work. And this was also demonstrated by the extraordinary debut of Oliver Bearman. The Englishman promptly had to step into Carlos Sainz's shoes in Jeddah, scoring his first championship points, with just one free practice session under his belt.
“After the first two races of the season, with the two podium finishes, we can say we are satisfied with the gradient of improvement that the SF-24 shows compared to the previous single-seater. – says Cardile – both the tests and the first races provided us with positive confirmations compared to the development path we outlined last year. Obviously we can't say we're satisfied with two third places: Red Bull is still faster than us. And although our performance so far has been better than that of the other top teams, this is still not enough for us. There is still a lot of work to do".
The weak points of the SF-24
Ferrari, albeit on two different occasions, took both drivers to the podium. However, the team knows they have other opportunities to attack Red Bull and that these will come when they manage to unlock the true potential of the SF-24 which currently still faces some weaknesses. Weaknesses that Cardile identified in a broader picture.
“The first GPs confirmed a good correlation of our simulation tools, which is certainly positive. In short, we had no surprises: the limitations we encountered in the factory during the winter were confirmed by the track. Today we can say that we have a pretty clear picture of the car's weaknesses, starting with tire management and balance. Formula 1 is based on continuous improvement and planning: the first events confirmed which development direction to pursue, and also the priorities we had given ourselves. So the focus in the company is to quickly find performance in the tunnel and work hard to bring the updates to the track as soon as possible, exploiting, in the meantime, all the potential that our car can have".
What will be the challenges for Ferrari?
Another very important aspect for Cardile is to focus on development in order to continuously chase Red Bull. In such a way as to attack while also protecting ourselves from opponents and from the sudden change of values on the track.
“Before the start of the first hour of free practice it is always difficult to have realistic expectations, because each team is only aware of its own work, and it is not possible to know the true values on the field. That said, we are only at the beginning of a very long season, and a good pace of improvement in the car will be crucial. Last year showed us how values on the field can change, in both directions. We ourselves started as fourth force, then we recovered and finished the championship fighting for second position. So for the next few months our only objective is to recover ground against those who currently occupy the top positions".
Small updates in Australia
Ferrari started the season as the second force, positioning itself ahead of Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin but to reach the territory that Red Bull currently occupies, alone, we will have to wait. In Melbourne the Maranello team brought a small upgrade to the rear wing to improve the efficiency of the rear axle. Nothing substantial at the moment and this is also because the Albert Park circuit represents an exception to the more conventional circuits that we will see in the next events. However, Ferrari's plan is precisely to work on the development of the rear of the SF-24 e greater developments are expected for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, where the SF-24 will undergo more significant aerodynamic changes.
Source statements: FormulaPassion
