Unlike the reigning world champion team that destroyed the first chassis of the RB20 in the frontal dynamic test at Cranfield, the Scuderia has passed all homologation tests for the 2024 chassis at the CSI center in Bollate. The 676 chassis is significantly revised compared to the SF-23 and had no issues passing even the most extreme static test of the roll-hoop introduced by the FIA for this year.
Ferrari better than Red Bull. It may sound incredible, but at least in one aspect, the Scuderia has managed to outperform the reigning world champion team. According to information revealed to Motorsport Italy, the chassis of the 676 has passed all crash tests, and the new frame intended for the 2024 car is already homologated by the FIA.
The news emerged after the reopening of the Scuderia following the shutdown imposed on F1 teams by the International Federation from December 22. In reality, the frontal test was brilliantly passed before Christmas.
The engineers led by Enrico Cardile were able to celebrate having achieved the goal according to the planned schedule, while Adrian Newey’s RB20, in testing a more extreme nose, reportedly damaged the number 1 chassis, which will impact the deliberation work for the new car that is expected to be born under the minimum weight after a significant weight loss treatment.
Unlike Red Bull, which conducts dynamic crash tests at Cranfield, Ferrari turns to the CSI in Bollate, the certification center of the IMQ Group located near Milan. The newly designed chassis overseen by Fabio Montecchi is significantly different from that of the F1-23 and appears to be slightly longer behind the driver’s shoulders to comply with the new roll-hoop homologation rules.
The FIA had decided to increase the loads of static tests following Guanyu Zhou’s incident at the 2022 British Grand Prix. Nikolas Tombazis, technical chief of the single-seater at the governing body, had given teams time to adapt the chassis starting from 2024.
Ferrari has lowered the lower anti-intrusion cone, which on last year’s car was not integrated into the floor but was positioned in a way that significantly disturbed the flow around the sides beneath the radiator inlet. It’s possible that the front section of the chassis might have a keel shape like the Red Bull RB19 and not be squared.
The 676 will be revealed at Fiorano on February 13 before the 200 km filming day that will immediately engage the two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, at the home track of the Prancing Horse.
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