Ferrari is not giving up in this 2024 Formula 1 season. A championship that seemed already over after the first rounds and then turned into something better than another boring Red Bull dominance. Thankfully. The Prancing Horse didn’t just sit back until it limped in late spring. It took almost three months to recover, a recovery that completely crushed the red team’s ambitions. To the umpteenth “patience,” the sixteenth in a row since the last triumph in 2008, that constructors’ title grabbed thanks to Kimi and Felipe, you must add the desire to already think about the future. A not-so-distant tomorrow.
At this point, it’s worth looking ahead to project 677: an F1 car that hopes to be celebrated at the end of the year. The basis of this car is the SF-24, which will undergo further modifications from now until the end of the championship. According to what was reported by the Italian media, a new floor was expected for the United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin, but it seems that it will arrive in the coming races. The Maranello team has worked hard on a new specification. This update will further “refine” the management of airflow, both in the “feeding” phase of the Venturi channels and in its external and visible part. We are talking about a crucial macro-component for generating downforce, which must not only be high but also have a certain consistency.
Ferrari wants to enhance the load/top speed equation. A more efficient floor gives the engineers the possibility to set less downforce on the wings, an aspect that generates a less complicated compromise in the transition the car must find between “high and low speed corners.” To go into more technical detail, we expect two types of development. The first concerns the improvement of the edge vortices, generated at the lateral edges of the floor, which help create a barrier between the fluid mass flowing beneath the floor itself and the high-pressure one circulating outside.
If Ferrari manages to strengthen and stabilize these vortices, the flow beneath the car will be more homogeneous, and downforce will increase. There should also be work on the fluid structure flowing inside the floor section. The creation of vortices inside the diffuser is indeed fundamental for directing and accelerating the subsequent expansion of air from the extractor. Strengthening these vortices, generated by the vertical strakes, allows for a greater amount of air to expand and increases rear downforce without increasing drag.
This new component will not be used during the United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin. The reason is twofold: with only 60 minutes of time available in the first free practice session given the Sprint format, there wouldn’t be enough room to properly evaluate the new floor. Additionally, as we have commented multiple times in recent weeks, Austin was the right track to test the latest aerodynamic updates introduced. This is because the stars-and-stripes circuit features a variety of important corners, along with rapid changes of direction. A sort of “ideal playing field” to finally verify the quality of the work done in recent weeks.
This does not mean that the red team won’t show any changes. We will know more as soon later today. There is also a lot of talk regarding the flexing of the wings. So far, the aeroelasticity of the SF-24 has not shown any kind of variation. That’s why it will be interesting to understand if, in fact, Ferrari’s aerodynamicists have first thought of and then implemented any measures to gain some benefit in this regard. We will only need to watch the on-board footage of the Ferrari cars during FP1 to figure it out and clear up any doubts.
Ferrari therefore arrives in Texas with clear objectives. On one hand, the need to test the current package on the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of The Americas, and on the other, the desire to continue along this upward trajectory that began at the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur continues to fuel the desire to fight for the constructors’ championship. There are still many points up for grabs. All true. Nonetheless, McLaren above all doesn’t seem so easily beatable. On the contrary, it remains the benchmark of the top motorsport category. This is why the odds are always in their favor.
Not to mention Red Bull, which has recently improved and is arriving here on American soil with several updates to fine-tune the RB20. Additionally, we must not make the mistake of forgetting Mercedes. Like the Austrian team, the German one has also decided to modify the W15 to close the gap with the leaders. For this reason, thinking about recovering 77 points from the Woking team seems like a fantasy. It would take a true miracle, considering that the British team has two drivers who are more or less on the same level and are determined to push very hard in these last two months.
It is better to focus on optimizing the Austin weekend, especially considering the particular format with two qualifying sessions and two races, which will highlight the quality of the work done in the simulator during preparation. The team that has done its homework best will therefore enjoy a clear advantage in the operation aimed at achieving the perfect setup of the car. The performance levels are quite close, and every little detail can make the difference in this first championship event after a month’s break.
The last part of the article is dedicated to a person who loves Ferrari. He embraced its cause, making it a reason for living. Since childhood, he dreamed of gripping the wheel of a red car and one day competing to carry that “fantastic omen” transformed into reality by Enzo to the top. So far, there have not been many satisfactions, especially considering what his talent could truly offer with a competitive car. A factor that weighs in part but is certainly not enough to discourage him. Charles Leclerc, a man who turned twenty-seven a few days ago and wears red on race weekends.
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