Scuderia Ferrari is waiting for the return of Formula 1 to grasp the real competitiveness of the SF-24 single-seater. The last six races of the 2024 Formula 1 championship will essentially be the prologue of the next campaign for all teams. The second longest break of the championship, in fact, has allowed the teams to dedicate all their resources to the development of their respective technical projects in order to extract further potential. The goal, furthermore, is to rely on a solid platform that can serve as a reference in the design process of the 2025 F1 cars.
As explained by the experts themselves, future cars will inevitably be logical evolutions of the current ones. It would be unwise to overturn the principles of cars on which there is extensive knowledge for just one season. From the 2026 Formula 1 championship, in fact, the new regulatory revolution will put an end to the generation of cars introduced in 2022. Perhaps, only teams in severe technical difficulty could start from scratch, having nothing to lose, such as the disappointing Sauber, at the back of the starting grid, both in terms of points and performance.
Unlike the summer break, during which teams must observe a two-week shutdown period imposed by the sporting regulations, after the Singapore Grand Prix a sort of pre-season began ahead of the next round of the championship, the United States Grand Prix at the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of The Americas in Austin on Sunday, October 20. The engineers of the various F1 teams, in practice, finally had time to focus on understanding the car, without the constant pressure of managing normal track activities. This situation completely diverts the team’s focus from some crucial technical factors needed to increase knowledge of the car, understand how to manage it best, and improve it.
After a trio of very different circuits, but characterized by their uniqueness, we are talking about Monza, Baku, and Singapore, the next round of the Formula 1 championship will take place in Austin. A permanent circuit with characteristics that can be described as “conventional.” Despite it being a sprint weekend, several teams will debut their latest developments on their cars. There is not much time left to lose, as 2025 is just around the corner, and with the new year, the design of next-generation cars will need to begin.
If the drivers’ world championship seems to be a matter between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, where the Dutchman still remains the favorite, in the constructors’ championship, Scuderia Ferrari is still in the game, although realistically, it seems difficult for the red team to catch up with the “hare” McLaren. The goal of the team led by Frédéric Vasseur is performance, especially on circuits historically unfavorable to Ferrari cars. Finishing the championship knowing they can tackle the next one with the evolution of a competitive car, therefore, is the real unspoken target of the men in red.
To draw a comparison with the recent past, we can say that Ferrari would like to arrive in Abu Dhabi in the same form as Red Bull during the 2020 Formula 1 season, a year in which Mercedes continued to win world titles, but which saw the Austrian team dominate in the final race at the Yas Marina circuit. The following year, the last under the technical regulations of the time, Max Verstappen won the title after a fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton. Both teams spared no effort despite it being the last season before the current technical and financial regulations.
Despite the challenge until the last corner, Red Bull managed to be ready again in at the start of the 2022 campaign. Just to be clear, if next year Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton were in a position to bring the drivers’ title back to Maranello after eighteen years, a period that is really too long for an F1 team like the Italian one, it’s not out of the question that the men in red could play the all-in card in the next racing campaign. In this regard, the words of the Monegasque driver of the red team seem to support this hypothesis, apparently.
Charles Leclerc expressed that winning the title next year is a realistic goal, acknowledging that it is a constant, evolving process, and the Maranello team will keep improving. The Monegasque driver suggested that if the 2025 championship goes well, 2026 will be even better, and the same could apply for 2027. Next year should not be considered a transition season, where the priority necessarily becomes the development of the complex 2026 cars. For too many years, about 17 now, Ferrari supporters have prematurely shelved their dreams during past seasons.
And this is precisely why, thinking about it carefully, perhaps for the historic Ferrari team, it would be the moment to focus on the present even before the distant future. In essence, to conclude the reasoning and thus this article, we can say that the 2025 championship, for the Maranello team, can and should be a great opportunity, just as 2021 was for Red Bull (in that case too, the season preceding the regulatory revolution). Going all-in is possible, but the foundation of the SF-25 must be solid and winning from the start. In this scenario, Charles Leclerc’s comments become fitting.
— see video above —
Leave a Reply