Ferrari 2024 F1 car: chassis and gearbox to be redone despite budget cap

Ferrari 2024, Changes Ahead
“Some teams are considering keeping the same gearbox or chassis from one season to the next. We won’t be doing that.” Ferrari’s team principal, Frederic Vasseur, revealed an important insight during the press conference that preceded the resumption of action at the Zandvoort circuit located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands.

He shed light on the foundational aspects of the Ferrari 2024, which is beginning to take shape in Maranello for the upcoming Formula One season. The regulations and the budget cap framework encourage the so-called ‘carry over,’ which involves transferring as many components as possible from one season to another to avoid allocating significant financial resources towards the reconstruction of critical components, such as the chassis and gearbox.

However, Ferrari must take a different path to embrace an entirely new project, given that certain safety-related elements, such as intrusion cones, pose an unavoidable obstacle. Redoing the chassis and gearbox will enable Ferrari to explore new avenues compared to those of 2022 and 2023, especially concerning the aerodynamic map of the forthcoming car.

Allocating a budget for the reconstruction of the chassis and gearbox could naturally impact the amount of development that can be produced in 2024. Yet, this will be a ‘challenge’ addressed in due course. Frederic Vasseur’s statement aligns with the perspective of entering the track in the upcoming season with a completely new project aimed at delivering a car to drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz that is predictable and capable of displaying consistency and drivability during races. This would allow them to comfortably maintain a strong pace without putting excessive strain on the tires.

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The F1-75 has shown outstanding performance in Qualifying, and the SF-23 has also demonstrated notable moments of speed on Saturdays. However, during races, the 2023 Formula One car often forced Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to drive with significant variations in lap times from one lap to the next. Hence the necessity to explore new avenues in 2024 to confidently vie for the available opportunities in 2025, the final season of the current regulatory cycle, which has so far been indelibly marked by Red Bull.