Scuderia Ferrari secured a decent result last weekend at the 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring in Budapest , in line with the difficult period following the Monaco Grand Prix. The Budapest weekend saw the Italian team respond technically with the introduction of the first “anti-bouncing” corrections (a modified floor), but the SF-24 currently shows a technical gap from the front to be recovered. The SF-24 single-seater demonstrated a race pace similar to that of the leaders with the Hard tires, but it is not enough to return to fighting for podiums and victories. Team principal Frederic Vassuer confirmed after the race that the final result, with a Ferrari just off the podium, is the best that can be achieved under normal conditions: he believed they had a solid weekend and were in a good fight with Red Bull and Mercedes during the race. Overall, he thinks they got the maximum possible this weekend with a P4 and a P6.
For the Italian side it is not just a matter of bouncing: even without bouncing, Ferrari would be behind McLaren.
The Maranello technicians, during the week-long break between Silverstone and Budapest, worked on the problematic floor introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. It was declared an evolution, but it was merely a small “adjustment” of the Spanish specification that had disappointed on track. The aerodynamicists at Maranello applied “corrections” in one of the critical areas of the floor, namely the diffuser area, by cross-referencing Computational Fluid Dynamics and track data, without using hours and runs in the wind tunnel. The bouncing problem has not been completely eradicated but the trigger point has been delayed. Frederic Vassuer commented after the Hungarian Grand Prix that they need to find the right compromise between load and bouncing, which will vary based on the track and setup. Budapest was not the harshest track for bouncing, but the situation was positive in this regard.
Bouncing in medium-fast corners costs Ferrari about 0.3 seconds on average. The drivers’ feeling has improved, but there is still room to eliminate the bouncing completely. Moreover, even without bouncing, the SF-24 would have an average gap of 0.15 to 0.2 seconds from the MCL38 single-seater, which has become the technical benchmark in this stage of the 2024 Formula 1 championship. From this perspective, the Hungarian Grand Prix is a partial disappointment, especially because the Maranello team expected to be more competitive against Mercedes. One of the main issues remains the performance in qualifying, where bouncing continues to manifest, while in the race, at lower speeds, the SF-24 car remains drivable and fairly fast.
The real development of the floor will arrive after the summer break. Meanwhile, some more corrections to bouncing are planned for the Belgian Grand Prix, as reported by the Italian website formu1a.uno.
If the Hungarian floor could be considered a “patch” of the floor brought to Spain, the real next development package will be introduced after the summer break, currently planned for the Marina Bay street circuit, where the Maranello team expects to be competitive. However, they will try to introduce it sooner, likely in Azerbaijan, while it seems quite more complicated to do so already in Zandvoort, because the idea of spreading the updates is alive and could allow the Italian team’s technicians to better understand the car as it undergoes various modifications.
The Team Principal emphasized that they should not revolutionize things but make small steps forward. McLaren and Mercedes have already taken this path after an initially more aggressive development. Ferrari is evaluating decisions on the update front as it goes because the priority, after the last “failed” Barcelona aerodynamic update package, is to bring new parts as soon as they find something that technically helps the car. For Belgium, some mechanical corrections are planned, not necessarily related to the bouncing problem and will not be declared in the usual FIA document before the first free practice session on Friday.
The Spa-Francorchamps track is certainly not a circuit that helps those suffering from bouncing. Although Budapest was not penalizing for bouncing and there were some positive responses, Spa will be a different circuit. New anti-roll springs should help the SF-24 car have a more stable platform and less restricted setup window. But the colder weather compared to hot Budapest will often negatively affect the performance of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s car. Having a more unloaded wing setup should make the bouncing situation less critical under equal conditions in the qualifying session. In Belgium, the medium-low load wing declared (but not used) in Saudi Arabia and seen at the first filming day in February should be seen again.
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