Work is underway at Maranello to reverse the downward trend in results. In reality, Ferrari’s time deficit compared to Red Bull hasn’t changed much since the beginning of the year, but the simultaneous rise of McLaren and Mercedes has contributed to the fewer points collected by the Prancing Horse. Bouncing has been the main limiting factor in June and July, with the first remedies expected after the break. However, to make up that tenth of a second gap from the leaders, other areas of the SF-24 will also need improvement.
Ferrari’s summer
Throughout the summer, much has been said about the bouncing issue Ferrari has faced, an aerodynamic phenomenon in the car’s floor that is triggered in high-speed corners and causes the car to bounce, forcing the drivers to lift off the throttle. The Prancing Horse is not the only team facing this problem, given the difficulty in predicting its occurrence until arriving at the track. In nearly three years of ground-effect regulations, teams have developed metrics to estimate the onset and intensity of bouncing in advance, though these are always subject to real-world conditions.
The aerodynamic update package introduced in Spain exacerbated the SF-24’s bouncing issues, which had been present since the start of the season. The car’s development increased downforce and aerodynamic efficiency, but at the cost of compromising the mechanical setup of the suspension, raising the car’s ride height to mitigate the problem. This was compounded by the time lost due to the drivers being unable to push to the limit, as well as the tires overheating during the bouncing.
Between Spain, Austria, and the UK, Ferrari experimented extensively, sacrificing weekend preparation to evaluate different setup philosophies in an attempt to address the problem. This strategy came at a cost in terms of points but allowed the team to gain a clear understanding of the situation and study countermeasures. In Budapest, the first correction to the floor was introduced, which improved the problem but didn’t completely solve it, with drivers still experiencing bouncing episodes at the end of the race at Spa with a light fuel load.
Updates on the way
The triple-header of races in Spain, Austria, and the UK amplified and distorted Ferrari’s actual deficit from the front. Some strategic and driving errors compromised the final results, while the actual time gap was affected by the setup experiments. It was a costly but necessary effort, according to Fred Vasseur: “Last year, we were in the same situation at the same point of the season between Silverstone and Spa. At Zandvoort, we paused to conduct a complete scan of the car, and from there, we made a strong comeback because in the following weeks, we were right there. The point is that when you have a problem, you can’t do tests to understand it. Sometimes you decide to compromise the Friday sessions, sacrificing a bit of weekend time with the medium term in mind.”
Carlos Sainz expressed a similar view: “I see Silverstone as an investment. We didn’t optimize the weekend, spending the first two free practices comparing floors and sacrificing having a teammate as a reference to optimize the car’s potential. This was so that we could be faster in five or six races when we translate what we learned at Silverstone into the wind tunnel.” Indeed, Maranello is working on a new package of updates designed to tackle the bouncing issue. Its arrival is expected after the summer break, although Fred Vasseur has not yet indicated a specific race. This choice is both to keep their cards close to their chest and to leave the door open for an earlier debut than initially anticipated.
Another limitation of the SF-24
Bouncing has been the focus of media attention in recent weeks, but it’s not the only weakness of the 2024 Ferrari. “Where we’ve struggled the most is in long, slow corners,” Charles Leclerc said after Barcelona. “We’re working to have a better car in those corners, and I think we’ve seen good steps forward in the last few races.” Carlos Sainz echoed this sentiment: “I agree with Charles. Our main problem is the medium-slow corners in combination.”
The update package introduced in Spain did help increase downforce at medium-low speeds, as seen in Budapest. This explains the team’s persistence with the new developments, despite the collateral bouncing. However, Ferrari still lags slightly in this area and needs further improvements to achieve the necessary competitiveness.
One of the defining features of the 2024 project is the better race performance compared to qualifying, a quality confirmed in the most recent races. This marks a shift in approach from 2023 when Ferrari secured several pole positions, only converting one into a win. However, the focus on race performance now clashes with a Formula 1 where eight drivers are within a very narrow time window, where sacrificing even a few hundredths in qualifying can cost a row on the grid and compromise the race. Therefore, working on one-lap pace appears to be another fruitful area for Ferrari to improve its results.
Ferrari is approaching the second half of the season fully aware of its strengths as well. On more than one occasion, the SF-24 has shown to perform best in hot conditions, looking optimistically towards events like Monza, Mexico, and Qatar. Moreover, in Monte Carlo, the Prancing Horse demonstrated it has one of the best suspension mechanics in the field for absorbing curbs and bumps, which the team is eager to test on the streets of Singapore. With the exception of Zandvoort, a track rich in medium-slow corners, Ferrari will encounter a sequence of favorable circuits after the break, as Fred Vasseur has also emphasized. This is a factor the Team Principal hopes will also serve as motivation to accelerate the updates in the works at Maranello.
Leave a Reply