As rivals McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes vie for race wins, Scuderia Ferrari’s absence from the podium in the last few race has unfortunately become increasingly evident.
In the last four races, the Italian side’s best result was Carlos Sainz’s third-place finish at the Red Bull Ring in the Austrian Grand Prix, while Charles Leclerc has struggled to break into the top five since his victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, only managing to secure a fourth place last weekend in the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest.
This decline is alarming, especially considering Ferrari started the 2024 Formula 1 championship as favorites to challenge Red Bull for the F1 title. However, it is now Lando Norris and McLaren putting pressure on Max Verstappen and the Milton Keynes team.
In the Hungarian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz started from fourth and Charles Leclerc from sixth on the grid, as both struggled to match the pace of McLaren and Red Bull, with their lap times nearly half a second off Lando Norris’ pole lap. The Monegasque driver also faced a significant setback due to a heavy crash in the second free practice session at the Hungaroring circuit, affecting his preparations for the rest of the Budapest weekend.
Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg, speaking on Sky Sports, attributes Ferrari’s recent struggles to a recent upgrade made before the triple-header.
Rosberg points out that teams have been hastily implementing upgrades in the last few races after noticing an opportunity when Red Bull faced issues with its update introduced at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix..
While Red Bull’s winning margin has decreased over the past seven events, with McLaren closing in and Mercedes making strides with the W15, Ferrari seems to be backtracking. The former F1 driver feels that the aero upgrade introduced at the Circuit de Catalunya did not yield the expected results, causing Ferrari’s current difficulties.
“It’s really got away from them, it’s all about that update that went wrong. Now they have to backtrack and understand while everyone else is pushing ahead, especially McLaren. In the space of so few races, so far behind now, it’s really disappointing for them.”
The Issues Stemming from Ferrari’s Recent Updates
The turning point for the Maranello team came at the Spanish GP when the Italian side introduced significant updates to the SF-24 single-seater , focusing on the rear wing, sidepods, and floor to enhance rear downforce and improve performance through high-speed corners.
While these updates succeeded in increasing downforce, they also created an excess that overloaded the rear suspension, leading to instability and bouncing issues for both drivers. This problem is reminiscent of the ‘disaster’ seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton once described at Mercedes.
All teams aim for aerodynamic stability, a crucial aspect of the current ground effect cars, but achieving this balance can be challenging when adding downforce through updates.
The team led by Fred Vasseur now needs to reassess its approach, understand the missteps with the recent updates, and make necessary adjustments to rejoin the battle with Red Bull and McLaren.
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