After another challenging race weekend, this time at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, it’s clear that Scuderia Ferrari is struggling with both form and performance. Once a contender for the front-runners, the Italian side’s fortunes have plummeted since Charles Leclerc’s splendid home victory on the streets of Monte Carlo in Monaco.
The 2024 Formula 1 campaign started strong for for the Maranello team, positioning themselves as the main team capable of challenging Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the early races.
With some luck, the Italian side Ferrari clinched a victory at the Albert Park circuit in the Australian Grand Prix, the third race of the current championship. Their performance remained competitive, maintaining a close gap with Red Bull’s race pace.
Monaco, a track that complemented Ferrari’s strengths, saw them triumph due to the car’s excellent performance and the team’s effective strategy. However, their fortunes began to wane from that point. The highlight of Ferrari’s campaign was the debut of the SF-24’s B version in Charles Leclerc’s home race. The car featured redesigned sidepods, sidepod inlets, and a new rear wing, embracing Red Bull’s overbite sidepod inlet geometry philosophy.
This design allowed for cleaner airflow over the sidepods, efficiently directing it to critical aerodynamic components like the diffuser and beam wing.
Managing this area of the car significantly impacts the front end and especially the underbody.
This weekend also marked the introduction of a new rear wing after using the previous design for the first seven races. The high-downforce rear wing was well-suited to Monaco’s slow track, and the car performed exceptionally.
Following Charles Leclerc’s win in Monte Carlo, with Carlos Sainz also on the podium, the Maranello team seemed poised to challenge Red Bull in the upcoming races. However, the next races in Montreal, in Barcelona and at the Red Bull Ring in Austria revealed otherwise.
After 11 races in the Formula 1 championship, Ferrari is second in the constructors’ standings, trailing Red Bull by 64 points. With nearly half of the 2024 season remaining, there’s still ample time for changes, and Ferrari remains in the championship hunt.
The Italian side needs time to understand the root of their issues and systematically address them. The SF-24 is a solid car with great potential and a strong foundation for further development.
Carlos Sainz at the simulator ahead of British Grand Prix
Meanwhile, at Ferrari, countermeasures are being studied after declining performances in the last three races, which saw the team trailing behind Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes. Carlos Sainz was already engaged on the Maranello simulator today, returning from the Austrian GP where he finished third, with the clear goal of finding a better setup for Sunday’s race at the Silverstone circuit. The latest aerodynamic development package has unbalanced the SF24, so much so that the old problem of floor bouncing at high speeds has reappeared on the car. To solve this, the Ferrari engineers have worked on the suspensions and ride heights of the car. Meanwhile, Technical Director Enrico Cardile is under scrutiny after the highly disappointing results following Charles Leclerc’s victory in Monaco and could soon leave the Italian side to join Aston Martin.
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