Every opportunity is valuable in Formula 1, and Scuderia Ferrari knows this very well. During the Pirelli testing session which took place earlier this week at the Fiorano circuit, the historic Italian team tried to collect as much data as possible. The opportunity was precious because, although the references on the 2025 tires are almost nonexistent, being able to use the car from the current Formula 1 championship is always very advantageous. In fact, according to the International Federation’s regulations, in these cases, it is allowed to use all the updates that have been employed at least once during the ongoing season. For this reason, the latest version of the SF-24 was able to take to the track this week.
Red Bull knows something about this, as they now find themselves in an extremely difficult situation from which they seem unable to escape. The RB20 single-seater has a good technical base, but it has not evolved like other teams. At an earlier time, former Red Bull engineer Adrian Newey himself hinted at this problem, stating that he was not at all proud of certain aspects of the latest car designed under his supervision, comments which raised some eyebrows from the competition considering they were made in the start of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign, when Max Verstappen and the Austrian side seemed unbeatable, while Sergio Perez was also in a position to easily challenge rivals Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. However, the British designer is no longer part of the team, and next week his move to Aston Martin in 2025 will be officially announced. Unfortunately for Red Bull and thankfully for the rest of the top teams, his brilliant ideas cannot solve the current crisis.
The technical group led by Pierre Waché has not been able to give that “spark” necessary to revive the 2024 Formula One season. McLaren has now taken off and is currently the benchmark in the top category of motorsport. Ferrari seems to have improved the SF-24 car, as demonstrated by the last two Grand Prix, and Mercedes, despite a slight downturn between the Netherlands and Monza, largely due to a wrong setup, with Lewis Hamilton managed to finish ahead of Max Verstappen’s RB20 in the Italian Grand Prix. A situation that the world champion is struggling with, and quite a bit.
Christian Horner and Helmut Marko are convinced that Adrian Newey‘s absence has nothing to do with it. We do not agree at all, as the British designer has always brilliantly corrected projects that were not functional to the cause. We are now talking about an RB20 single-seater that, forced to push beyond its limits, shows several flaws in trying to keep up with the competition. The front end of the RB20 continues to create several headaches, as it cannot follow the input provided by the driver through the steering wheel, complicating handling, especially in certain types of corners. Not to mention the difficulties related to tire activation.
For Ferrari, the situation is slightly different. First of all, the Pirelli wet track testing session took place at their home circuit, Fiorano, taking advantage of the hospitality and support of the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. British driver Oliver Bearman, at the wheel of an SF-24, worked on the development of new solutions for wet and intermediate tires, utilizing the circuit’s artificial irrigation system. The young member of the Ferrari Driver Academy started with a few laps on dry conditions, then focused on the program set by Pirelli’s technicians. In total, Oliver Bearman, who will race for Haas in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, completed 167 laps.
Similarly to what Red Bull did, Ferrari collected a large amount of data using the latest version of the SF-24 car. As we know, at Monza the Maranello technical team introduced a new specification of the car’s floor. We are talking about a crucial component under the current Formula 1 regulations, which is essential for generating “free” aerodynamic downforce. The specification underwent a major evolution, as it was modified in all its parts. At the entrance, in the front area, the shape of the fences that channel airflow underneath the car towards the Venturi channels was changed, with these channels also undergoing clear reshaping.
The external fin saw a modification of its edge, while underneath the sidepods, in the area where the undercut “opens,” the overall volume was changed, a choice useful for reducing the loss of direct airflow towards the car’s rear. The sharp edge is different from the old version, modified by eliminating the appendage that had the function of generating downforce. A small curl was added to seal the floor and prevent infiltration of “dirty” airflow coming from the tires. Finally, another detail concerns the repositioning of the “hooks” that support the part of the floor detached from the rest of the SF-24 car’s underbody.
As we can easily imagine, fully validating this component takes time for the technicians of the Maranello team. Moreover, the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza was not the ideal track for doing so, given that its layout doesn’t require a particularly high aerodynamic compromise. While awaiting confirmation of the effectiveness of this aerodynamic update, Ferrari nevertheless took advantage of the Pirelli tests at the Fiorano circuit in order to gather interesting data on a wet track surface. Thanks to these particular conditions, the Maranello team acquired additional valuable information that will undoubtedly prove useful as the 2024 Formula 1 championship progresses.
