The Ferrari 2024 is a product of a new development direction undertaken in Maranello, approaching the concept of the Red Bull school for several months now. The SF-24 features some solutions commonly seen on the grid, such as the revised sidepods and integrated side impact structures in the floor, but not all. The new Ferrari car does not have the rear push-rod suspension, adopted by the entire competition except for Haas. Technical director Enrico Cardile explained the reasons behind this choice, also outlining the philosophy behind the SF-24’s new concept.
The Concept Change
The new Ferrari inherits the development work started in the previous season, where the Prancing Horse began correcting the ways in which the car was designed to work and generate downforce: “With the previous concept, we had reached the limit of what could be extracted,” explains Enrico Cardile. “To squeeze out further performance, essentially through the aerodynamics of the floor, it was crucial to undergo a restructuring of the car’s architecture, following a direction now quite widespread on the grid.”
On several occasions, Adrian Newey, one of the main architects of Red Bull’s championship-winning cars, explained that the concept initially proposed by Ferrari in 2022 was as valid as that of the Anglo-Austrian team. However, regulatory changes to the floor introduced in 2023 penalized the Maranello team in its strong point, aerodynamic load in fast corners, contributing to Red Bull’s rise and subsequent dominance. According to Enrico Cardile, Ferrari would have changed the concept even without regulatory changes.
“I don’t think the regulatory change influenced what we did,” explains the technical director. “The 2022 concept was good, but in terms of how much progress we could make, we would have made less progress compared to the new concept. The choice is linked to the peak performance that can be achieved with a certain concept. The 2022 car was stable and had a lot of downforce, but when we started increasing it, we began to believe that a new concept would allow us to go even further.” – he pointed out.
The Drivability of the SF-24 Car
The concept behind the SF-24 has drivability predictability as one of its driving goals. “We worked with ambitious goals in terms of lap times, also constrained by drivability,” reveals Enrico Cardile. “We wanted to lower lap times, but at the same time deliver a better-driving car to the drivers, robust in all conditions regarding wind and asphalt temperature.”
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“Part of drivability lies in how easily performance can be extracted, which can be simpler on new tires and a light car but can become more challenging with worn tires. If we worked on drivability, it’s precisely to develop a better race pace. The intention is to maintain competitiveness in qualifying but mature a greater consistency over the long distance.”
“Last year, we did a great job in understanding what drivability meant in terms of the aerodynamic map. In defining the goals, we evaluated different options, and in the current solutions, we found the best way to achieve them.” The Ferrari technical director also refers to the rear pull-rod suspension, preferred over the push-rod system adopted by all rival teams, except the customer Haas.
Why the Pull Rod
With the spread of the dropped sidepod bodywork, almost all teams have adhered to the rear push-rod suspension. Since the push-rod system acts on the spring-damper assembly in the upper part of the transmission, the push-rod scheme frees up space in the lower part, removing an obstacle to the flow of air collected by the sidepods. This solution was also considered by Ferrari: “We evaluated different schemes for the rear suspension. For our goals and flow management, we found a good compromise with the current suspension layout. When I talk about compromises, I refer to aerodynamic performance and suspension compliance.”
The differences between Ferrari and the competition, however, do not reside solely in the rod: “Actually, our suspension is slightly different regarding the arrangement of the arms compared to Red Bull, for example, to mention a team,” explains Enrico Cardile. “We have achieved good aerodynamic results by moving in this direction. Moving from pull-rod to push-rod, we have not noticed advantages that would justify the compromise in terms of weight and compliance.”
The push-rod scheme would have sacrificed the suspension kinematics for better airflow circulation, but Ferrari believes that the final compromise would not have been superior to the current pull-rod with the different arrangement of the arms: “We do not plan to change the suspension during the season. Let’s see where we will arrive with the development, but so far, we are happy with this configuration.” The SF-24 also features a new layout for the internal spring-damper assembly, considered innovative: “The rear suspension mechanics are positioned differently inside the transmission case. It is a new concept, for us, it is an innovation because it is a different way of managing the suspension compared to what has been done in the past.”
Moving Forward with Development
Enrico Cardile reveals that the SF-24 will hit the track in Bahrain in the same form as presented in Maranello, although developments are already in the works: “The car in the wind tunnel is already evolving compared to what was presented. We will decide when it is best to bring the first updates to the track.” Ferrari aims to adopt a more aggressive approach to the car’s evolution, thanks to the revision of the CFD models for virtual aerodynamic analysis: “In recent years, we have developed a simulation methodology that allows us to predict porpoising, with the goal of pushing aerodynamic development to the limit of porpoising without surpassing it.”
Bringing updates continuously will be doubly important this year, considering the high likelihood that the 2025 car will be an evolution of the current one: “Having a good starting point this year is crucial because next year many efforts will be redirected to the 2026 car, which will be very different in terms of regulations. It is also important to maintain a good pace with development to arrive in 2025 in good shape,” Enrico Cardile concluded.
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