Scuderia Ferrari approaches the Dutch Grand Prix, 15th Grand Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 season, with a lot of hope. The desire for a change in direction is strong. It is as essential as the air they breathe at Ferrari, which, after a completely ineffective middle part of the championship, must take control of the situation again. To do so, the Maranello technicians have studied a particular suspension configuration for the 4.259-kilometre Circuit Zandvoort. The goal is to achieve the maximum downforce possible from the car’s floor without encountering the tedious porpoising effect that limits the car’s performance.
Ferrari claims to have identified what is not working. The tests conducted have revealed the problems, but the Italian side is not yet ready to elaborate and for now the timeline for definitively solving these issues is still unknown. In the meantime, aware of the underlying causes, the Maranello team has worked to manage the situation as best as possible, to extract as much performance as possible from the SF-24 single-seater, and return to being competitive. This is where things stand at the moment. Following an extended study phase carried out in recent weeks, Ferrari has made a choice.
The two SF-24 cars, therefore, arrive at the Dutch Grand Prix with a clear plan to follow and develop throughout the race weekend. This refers specifically to the aerodynamic aspect. It is known that top speeds are a limitation for the SF-24, and to reduce aerodynamic drag at Zandvoort, the Maranello engineers have decided to implement a rear wing with a load level lower than optimal. This is the specification introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, which can be defined as medium-high downforce.
With this version, the downforce applied to the rear axle is then complemented by the vertical thrust generated by the beam-wing. Generally speaking, in past editions at the Zandvoort circuit, the Italian F1 team has always preferred to heavily load the car. However, considering the generation of understeer, it is necessary to counterbalance by providing sufficient grip to the front axle. This is a circuit where the balance and connection between the two axles are fundamental. Therefore, the Maranello team will not excessively load the rear wing, limiting drag.
At the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, this particular setup yielded poor results, failing to provide the compromise between downforce and drag that Ferrari had anticipated. Both the wings and the beam-wing are adjustable but within certain limits. Essentially, it’s all about finding the correct balance around the level of downforce deemed ideal, theoretically determined with dedicated simulation software. We expect that more emphasis will be placed on loading the rear with the beam-wing because the SF-24 is generally more front-focused, and shifting the balance toward the rear helps with handling.
Of course, the key to performing well will be getting the SF-24 car’s floor to work properly, especially the keel area, where there have been several instability problems regarding fluid dynamics in recent races. Further aerodynamic updates will arrive in the coming races to help optimize this area of the car, unlocking clean potential downforce without encountering the tedious phenomenon of aerodynamic pumping. For the Dutch Grand Prix, therefore, we expect Ferrari to still struggle with this factor during the 15th race weekend of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
In several races, as Charles Leclerc himself confirmed in the press conference, Ferrari has followed updates that were a bit too extreme. These aerodynamic updates subsequently compromised on-track performance. In the Netherlands, there are some bumps, so a certain compromise in terms of suspension stiffness is necessary, which means that cars less sensitive to height variations will find a small advantage in setup construction. It will be very interesting to see if Ferrari has managed to make progress in this regard, better understanding how to unlock all the downforce derived from the floor.
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