The 2024 Formula 1 championships risks becoming one marked by a lot of regret for Scuderia Ferrari, as the Italian side is aware that it could have done better. The break in the F1 World Championship after the frantic overseas triple-header an ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix allows for a partial analysis of the performance of the top teams and consequently the drivers after 21 of the 24 rounds of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign. This analysis specifically focuses on the consistency of the Maranello car in relation to the developmental steps of the SF-24. In Ferrari’s development plan, the main aerodynamic update packages debuted at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in the Spanish Grand Prix and at the Monza speed temple in the Italian Grand Prix. We have therefore closely examined three segments of the championship, namely from the inaugural Bahrain race to the Canadian Grand Prix, then from the Spanish Grand Prix to the Dutch Grand Prix and finally from the Monza Grand Prix up to the recent Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.
In the first phase of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Ferrari capitalized on the strength of the base specification, representing an alternative to the dominant Red Bull RB20 compared to other competitors. This initial cycle ended with Charles Leclerc’s home victory on the streets of Monte Carlo in the Monaco Grand Prix. The enthusiasm for Charles Leclerc’s victory was unfortunately followed by the disastrous Canadian Grand Prix, which was a result of poor preparation and weekend management, as well as technical issues with the power unit of the Monegasque driver’s SF24. In an attempt to raise the bar, the historic Italian team evolved the SF-24 at the Spanish Grand Prix at the Montmeló circuit.
The track provided results that were quite different from the data collected in simulations. Ferrari was, in several instances, the fourth strongest team on the track. This performance downgrade forced the Maranello technicians and engineers to roll back the updates introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and begin an intensive troubleshooting phase that included more comparative testing. While the team from Maranello tried to understand the nature of its issues, the competition did not stand still. Up until the Dutch Grand Prix, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz worked to minimize the damage, but this led to a lot of valuable points lost against rivals Red Bull and especially McLaren.
Comparative testing was done by alternating between the base and upgraded specifications, depending on track layout. The unexpected difficulties experienced by the historic Italian F1 team up to the reigning Dutch champion’s home race are reflected in the meager points tally of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz during this segment of the season. To clarify, during this period, the Monegasque driver accumulated only half the points of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, and Lando Norris.
For Ferrari, the momentum of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign changed from Monza onward. The splendid victory of Charles Leclerc at the historic Monza circuit was not due to the superiority of the Ferrari SF-24 but rather to the skill of the driver from Monaco, which allowed Ferrari to complete the race with only one pit stop. However, since the home round, Scuderia Ferrari has shifted gears entirely. Despite the disappointing result at the Singapore Grand Prix on a track theoretically suited to the characteristics of the Maranello car, the final stint of the season has seen the team led by Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur progressively return to peak competitiveness.
The positive results in the final part of the 2024 Formula 1 season stem from an analysis process of the developmental path of the Italian car. Essentially, the engineers in Maranello had to reset the car to its original release level, where the track data had negligible deviations from the simulations. From this point of consistency, a new development phase began, aiming to eliminate the issues introduced by the aerodynamic update that debuted in Spain, which had been under the less-than-careful oversight of Italian aerodynamicist and former technical director Enrico Cardile.
Examining the data regarding the points won in this period, the numbers show that the historic Italian team scored the same points as McLaren, which is widely considered the best car in the field. Ferrari managed this while outpacing Mercedes and even surpassing Red Bull in the constructors’ standings. All this was achieved despite the disastrous Singapore round, where the Prancing Horse complicated matters with a poor performance in the qualifying session that effectively relegated the two Ferrari drivers to start from the fifth row of the grid on a track where overtaking is very difficult, which basically compromised the outcome of the Sunday race for the Italian side.
The evidence of these numbers, however, fuels regret. Without the struggles in the middle part of the season, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari could have been in a significantly better position than they currently are. While there is still hope in the constructors’ title race, the championship ambitions of the Monegasque driver faded far too early compared to Ferrari’s potential in 2024. The most encouraging aspect is that the car’s development process unlocked further potential from the 676 technical project in the final phase of the season, effectively providing a solid foundation for the 2025 Formula 1 project.
— see video above —
Leave a Reply