Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc secured a solid fourth place finish in the Chinese Grand Prix at the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit last Sunday, adding another commendable result to the SF-24’s tally in this start of the 2024 Formula 1 championship. On the surface, Ferrari can take pride in their performance in the early stages of the season. With a race victory under their belt at the Albert Park circuit in Australia and numerous podium finishes, they have enjoyed considerable success. Moreover, their 2024 challenger has displayed improved speed compared to its predecessor, and its behavior on track has become more predictable, allowing Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to feel more confident and push more as compared to the previous campaign. However, the fifth round of the year in Shanghai also unveiled some undesirable traits in the SF-24 single-seater.
Across the board, tire warm-up has emerged as Scuderia Ferrari’s primary weakness this Formula 1 season. Throughout much of the previous season, the Maranello team concentrated on enhancing tire management, which had been a significant issue. Ferrari’s 2023 Formula 1 campaign was marked by strong qualifying showings followed by disappointing race results, largely due to tire performance. While the tires rapidly heated up to provide peak grip during low-fuel runs, this advantage turned into a severe limitation over the course of a Grand Prix, giving the Red Bull RB20 a comfortable edge.
In 2024, Ferrari has shown promising race pace. Unlike the previous season’s model, the SF-24 does not excessively heat up its tires, allowing Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to prolong their stints on race day. However, this presents its own set of challenges.
World champion Max Verstappen now holds a significantly larger advantage in terms of qualifying pace compared to the previous championship. This is primarily because Ferrari struggles to generate sufficient tire heat to unleash their full potential on Saturdays. Alarmingly for the engineers in Maranello, this issue persisted in the Chinese Grand Prix, with both SF-24 single-seaters grappling to achieve optimal tire temperature.
Charles Leclerc highlights Ferrari’s key weaknesses amid SF-24 characteristics
Charles Leclerc reflected on this vulnerability after the race and discussed expectations for the upcoming event at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida.
“I think it’s going to be in line with what we have seen so far. We’ll be working obviously on trying to understand what was going on with the hard today – to try and fix that and hopefully don’t have that again sometime in the season. But I don’t know. It also depends on whoever is bringing upgrades there. We probably won’t, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out.
McLaren and Mercedes lead the pack in rolling out upgrades for the Miami race weekend, while the Maranello team opts to delay the next phase of development for the SF-24 until round seven in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit.
Despite a challenging outing in the previous race, Ferrari remains composed and focused. Rather than succumbing to panic, the Maranello team is steadfast in their commitment to maximizing the current capabilities of their car before introducing alterations aimed at enhancing its raw performance for the 2024 Formula One championship.
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