Ferrari: internal work in preparation for Budapest with priority to new SF-24 package, but also "Plan B"

The 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring circuit in Budapest hosts the penultimate event on the 2024 Formula 1 calendar before the summer break, during the most challenging phase of this season so far for Scuderia Ferrari. Significant changes are taking place in Maranello, with Italian aerodynamicist and former technical director Enrico Cardile officially leaving the Ferrari Racing Department, and the technical office now officially in the hands of Frédéric Vasseur, but with the most important figures of each macro department tasked with directing the development of corrections for the SF-24 single-seater and making crucial decisions for the 2025 Formula 1 project in the upcoming weeks. Ferrari will arrive in Hungary facing an important crossroads to decide whether the new aerodynamic update package introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain still has room for use or if it will also need to be shelved on the Hungarian circuit. As the Team Principal himself said, there are several solutions for bouncing: some make you lose performance, others don’t, and the Italian side wants to steer itself onto the second path, but as the French manager pointed out, this takes time. Until then, Ferrari will have to use the current aerodynamic package with the clear goal of getting the most out of it.

The one-week break before heading to the Hungaroring circuit for the next round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship has been very important from a technical point of view. The Maranello team’s technicians needed time after the comparison work carried out between the two SF-24 configurations, namely the Imola package versus the Spain package, which saw the latest specifications definitively rejected in the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit.

In Hungary, a high-downforce track, the goal of the Maranello technicians working around the SF-24 is to try to use the new floor again, paired with the more streamlined sidepods. In the last few races, the two Ferrari drivers have been troubled by a car that has lost the excellent balance it had at the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Before the Silverstone Grand Prix weekend, it was Carlos Sainz who pushed hard to reuse the components introduced at the Imola circuit, taking a step back and opening up the opportunity for an important comparison, and now even Charles Leclerc doesn’t seem so convinced anymore about receiving the car in the Spain configuration, however, in Maranello, they must optimize what they have available.

Except for the sections where the bouncing is present, which cost about 20 points of downforce at high speed, the engineers have seen on track how the Ferrari SF-24 has more downforce with the new aerodynamic package in the slower sections. Adding to this is the fact that at the Hungaroring, they shouldn’t reach the critical threshold for triggering porpoising as happened in both Austria and Silverstone, so it would seem smart to push the new specifications again. This is why, for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Maranello team will prioritize using the Spain version (with some confidence), but the plan B is always present since the “Imola package” will also be brought to the Hungaroring, ready to be used in case the new aerodynamic package shows issues even in Budapest, as explained by F1 expert Rosario Giuliana for formu1a.uno.

In Hungary, a reaction is expected from Ferrari, with a layout that, according to certain technical aspects, could suit the SF-24. Prioritizing the more updated aerodynamic package has technical reasons that align well with the characteristics of the Hungaroring circuit since it potentially only has two corners to be taken over 250 kilometers per hour, one of which, turn 4, is very short and therefore not problematic for possible bouncing. Additionally, the Spain package shifts the balance slightly in favor of the slow sections, which should help, at least partially, manage the problem the Ferrari SF-24 has in long corners, especially in low and medium-speed ones, which are present on the Budapest circuit.

An important confirmation that the Ferrari technicians had in the back-to-back tests carried out between the two specifications at Silverstone is that Charles Leclerc, with the latest specification, was much faster for three-quarters of the track except for Copse and the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel section, where the losses compared to Carlos Sainz’s old version SF-24 were even more than three-tenths. The Monegasque driver was instead dominant in the slow sections, slightly more competitive in the medium ones, and indeed much slower in the fast sections. That’s why, if there is bouncing even in Hungary, enough to discard the newer floor, it would be a sort of technical drama. The Hungaroring circuit is not Monaco, but it is still a track where Ferrari expects to improve the trend of the last four races.