During the last weekend, the Ferrari SF-24 car encountered significant issues at the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit. This was unexpected especially taking into consideration the fact that the tire analysis from the week before the 2024 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix had been extensive at the factory back in Maranello. However, the Shanghai weekend further highlighted an endemic problem of the SF-24 single-seater: the correct management of tires. Although the Italian car showed excellent performance in terms of degradation, there remains a concern regarding the mere activation of the Pirelli compounds. This refers to the ability to input energy into the tires in order to utilize their maximum performance in any situation, regardless of the track conditions.
As we know, the problem is more complicated than it seems. It’s not simply about “heating them up.” There are indeed specific guidelines and strategies that contribute to the correct use of the tire, to ensure that the working range of the compound is targeted and, above all, maintained throughout the single lap on push laps or over long distances concerning long runs with a high amount of fuel onboard. Until the fifth round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the red cars had shown some difficulties only in the qualifying phases, but at the Shanghai International Circuit, the problems also strongly emerged during the race.
We have discussed this in recent days through our usual analysis, noting how in the second stint of the Chinese Grand Prix, with the Pirelli Hard tires, the two SF-24 cars were never able to maintain the correct operating temperatures of the compounds. This was a very limiting condition that effectively contributed to the overall poor speed performance of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, both in the qualifying session and in terms of race pace. However, team principal Frederic Vasseur is not making a drama out of it. The low temperatures encountered in Shanghai have highlighted this issue, which is currently under examination by the Maranello technicians. We are talking about specific measures to understand and correct this Ferrari setup on the tires.
Ferrari SF-24, working on slow corners ahead of Miami
Speaking in a recent interview for the media following the Chinese Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc spoke at length about this matter, as the Maranello team is fully intent on ensuring that the same issue does not recur in the next round of the 2024 Formula1 season, the Miami Grand Prix. We know that further simulator testing with the data collected from Shanghai will take place in the coming days, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc who will be heading back to Maranello to conduct the simulator tests. These will be intensive examinations to further study the hysteresis cycle of the Pirelli tires, this time with the causes in hand. Besides the tire issue, which has already been extensively covered by our recent analyses in the lest few days following the Chinese Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc pointed out that the red car struggles in the slower sections of the track.
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The cornering speed often isn’t what is desired, compounded by a delay in acceleration phases. Last year traction was a strong point of the Ferrari Formula 1 car, a distinctive trait that the Maranello team was able to leverage significantly in the overall outcome of the lap time, creating a clear advantage over its direct competitors in this regard, including Red Bull. However, in this 2024 things are quite different based on the data collected from the first five rounds of the current competitive racing campaign. Therefore, specific focus will also be given to this aspect, to understand how to best set the pull-rod system at the rear of the Italian single-seater.
Furthermore, the Ferrari Monegasque driver indicated that the upcoming updates represented by the major aerodynamic package debuting at the Imola circuit will, of course, have the clear goal to enhance the Italian car in all its areas. A 360-degree performance boost, in short, that should simultaneously unlock a part of the existing potential of the SF-24 car, which clearly has not been expressed so far. Among these, the rear end should undoubtedly benefit significantly, providing more downforce and stability in motion and maintaining a constant level of downforce across various speed ranges.
Next week, Ferrari will therefore arrive at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida aiming to redeem itself after a weekend in China where, for the first time this season, it failed to get at least one of its cars on the podium.
Regardless of what will happen on track in terms of performance and final results, the American market represents a significant opportunity for teams both economically and in terms of brand image. It is no coincidence therefore that several teams have debuted special liveries in the United States in recent years, perhaps reflecting local colors or their own history, as Scuderia Ferrari will do this season in Miami with a return to light blue.
Last year, the Italian side celebrated one of the three races in the USA with a livery that paid homage to its past at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, featuring white details that recalled the Scuderia’s history in the 1970s. The experiment was positively received by the media and fans, who appreciated the change in color scheme, prompting the Maranello team to repeat this approach for the upcoming Miami event.
This livery change is part of the “Cavalcade International,” a journey organized by Ferrari for its clients that will travel through Tennessee and Florida on the way to Miami, where the Formula 1 Grand Prix will take place next weekend.
The livery that Ferrari will use in Miami will feature a brush of two shades of blue, namely Azzurro La Plata and Azzurro Dino, harking back to the origins of the Prancing Horse’s history. Although it has not yet revealed the exact livery that will debut on track at the sixth round of the 2024 Formula 1 world championship, Ferrari has already begun preparations, showcasing the suits and attire of the drivers for that weekend, as well as other special merchandise, specifically for this event.
Notably, the suits will predominantly feature light blue, taking over from the usual red with two different shades. The same color was worn by drivers in the 1960s, like John Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini, and Chris Amon, and continued into the following decade: in that shade, Niki Lauda wore his suit during his first year with the Scuderia, as did the work coats of the Maranello workers.
This initiative was clearly prepared well in advance, as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were shown the new attire last January. Discussing this shift in color from the classic red, Flavio Manzoni explained that red is not the only color for Ferrari, there is also blue. Moreover, blue was also the traditional color of Enzo Ferrari, particularly Azzurro La Plata. Enzo Ferrari was particularly fond of it because he found it a calming color, as explained by the Chief Design Officer of Ferrari, who has contributed to the creation of numerous road cars.
In Monza over the past two seasons, Ferrari has also paid tribute to its past and the victory at Le Mans in 2023, with “Modena yellow” inserts alongside the traditional red. Ferrari will present the new livery of the SF-24 on May 1st directly in Florida, in Miami.
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