Scuderia Ferrari is ready for the next test in the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the Canadian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal on Sunday, June 9. With a lot of optimism, the all-red F1 car is preparing for the North American trip, where it seems to believe it can put together another truly top-notch weekend. At the moment, the gap with McLaren and Red Bull is really narrow. This means that the team that maximizes the weekend, showcasing its strengths while at the same time being able to “hide” the weaker points, has the chance to perform best and beat the opponents. A bit like McLaren did in the Miami Grand Prix, then Red Bull at the Imola circuit, and Ferrari most recently in Monaco.
Currently, the tuning of the three top Formula 1 cars is decisive. On the other hand, it is obvious that some layouts inherently favor one team over another. Monte Carlo, for example, where traction was the key aspect around which the entire weekend revolved, was theoretically supposed to reward Red Bull, which, with the RB20, had shown the best performance in this area in the first seven races of the 2024 championship. However, something happened: the Milton Keynes team had to deal with some well-known problems.
We are referring to a front end that starts to suffer significantly as soon as the center of pressure is shifted to the rear. This element severely limited the potential of the Austrian car in Monaco. On the contrary, the Ferrari SF-24, even in the updated version following the introduction of the first major aerodynamic package in Imola, does not suffer from the migration of load to the rear. Instead, it offers that extra amount of downforce that is missing compared to the RB20, managing the solid front end very well, allowing it to enter corners at full speed. Moreover, by “playing” with ride heights and the hybrid system, the Prancing Horse achieved optimal traction in Monaco.
This aspect shows how delicate the balance is at the moment. For this reason, returning to the previous discussion, the importance of the simulation field becomes crucial. Ferrari has widely demonstrated to be very well-prepared in this aspect. The SF-24 hits the track and is balanced. This is confirmed by the very few adjustments to ride heights, suspension, and wing incidence. The ability to predict the competitive context is greatly aiding the Ferrari team. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz hit the track, taking advantage of the accumulated know-how from the driver-in-the-loop.
They can then focus on optimizing handling and fine-tuning. This is why they are not forced to waste time and struggle, along with technicians and engineers, to correct the errors studied theoretically. This issue is being experienced by the Milton Keynes team. Even Red Bull director Helmut Marko has noted it, as the Austrian side, at this point in the championship, has an imperfect correlation between the simulator and the track. This scenario, of course, negatively affects the overall performance of the blue racing cars over the weekend.
F1, Ferrari: John Elkann urges the Italian team to give even more
Returning to Scuderia Ferrari, the Maranello team has made a significant leap in quality compared to last year. This was achieved by changing the work plan brought to the track, a measure that, as we are seeing, is bearing fruit. The Maranello team wants to win at the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal as well. This is the unspoken goal that occupies the minds of the Ferrari team members as we get closer to the next round of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign. The frustration of not being able to compete for the top result no longer poisons the historic Italian team, and for this reason, everything has become much simpler compared to the recent past.
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Red Bull must defend the title it won on the track, while Ferrari does not have to. For this reason, the pressure is increasing for the reigning world champion team, whereas Ferrari can race free from particular tensions. It is clear, for the sake of accuracy, that the Italian team must always aim for triumph, but if it does not come, it does not create particular dramas. As indicated, the performance step achieved during the winter is considerable, especially considering the starting point where the Austrian team dominated extensively, annihilating the opponents.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is leading the Maranello team excellently. In this regard, it’s worth pointing out an interesting fact: John Elkann was present in Monaco. We saw and heard him in the Monte Carlo pit lane. In fact, it must be said that for once his presence coincided with a victory, an aspect that undoubtedly raised the morale of the entire team. The grandson of Gianni Agnelli has finally decided to participate more actively in the purely sporting side of Ferrari. He did so, first of all, by giving Fred Vasseur the power to make decisions on his own. At the same time, John Elkann regularly meets with the French manager every week to take stock of the situation.
The Ferrari president, fully supported by the top management, has asked the team for an additional effort. The surrounding statements released to the media are of little consequence. The communication of the Italian team must be managed correctly, in order to avoid transmitting extreme hopes or false expectations, setting very difficult targets to reach. However, through the information reported by various Italian news media outlets during the Monaco weekend, we can observe how the Prancing Horse’s desire to impress is definitely increasing.
It has been a long time since Ferrari has seen such a serene environment, which is quite necessary for an F1 team aiming to start a winning cycle. John Elkann has asked to accelerate development and push to bring various updates to the track throughout the championship as soon as possible because Red Bull is no longer unbeatable as was the case in 2023, and McLaren is also a serious threat. For this reason, extra work is underway within the sporting management, which primarily involves the validation of the aerodynamic package and subsequently the arrival of further innovations that the technical department headed by Italian aerodynamicist Enrico Cardile is defining.
The watchword is to dare without fear. To propose innovations that can strengthen the recent SF-24 car update and enhance it. This attitude is also used in the approach to the race weekend. The Spanish Grand Prix is eagerly awaited in order to definitively validate the updated version of the car. Then comes Austria, where some innovations might arrive ahead of schedule. Ferrari is trying, although it remains to be seen if the Maranello team will be able to make such an effort. Meanwhile, there is awareness of the current version of the car, which the Ferrari engineers and technicians believe can aim for the top in the upcoming rounds, starting with the Canadian Grand Prix.
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