Off the back of Lewis Hamilton making his blockbuster move to Ferrari for next season, we quickly learned that the Briton would be replacing Carlos Sainz at the Scuderia. However, with only just one year left with the team, Sainz has expressed his desire to see the team end its 16-year-old championship drought in 2024. The Spaniard holds the SF-24 to be the weapon that Ferrari need to bank on in this championship fight. Especially, after the witnessing flaws of the SF-23, developmental gains are going to be key if Ferrari want to be world champions.
In a video released by the team, Sainz explained, [as quoted on Twitter (now X)], “For sure, we are trying to improve in every single area. If we want to win the world championship, you have to improve in every area of the car. That is exactly what we’ve been doing this off-season.”
The 29-year-old seems to have hit the nail on the head. The SF-23 was not Ferrari’s best effort at developing a championship-winning car. This became apparent pretty early on in the season. Lacking aerodynamic optimization, the car also suffered from the fatal problem of eating up its rear tires too much. This meant that they were never a threat to Max Verstappen in the races, ever.
That being said, in 2023, Ferrari was the only non-Red Bull car to win a Grand Prix. Ironically, it was Carlos Sainz, who won that Grand Prix in Singapore, becoming the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race last season.
Ferrari start 2024 with a promising SF-24 reveal
The famous prancing horse from Maranello revealed the much-hyped SF-24 to the entire world today. They also conducted a short 15 KM shakedown at Fiorano after the car launch. Many were awaiting the reveal, and the Scuderia retained its iconic red with a dashing touch of yellow and white stripes. But is the car as fast as it looks good?
Gazzetta quoted Sainz’s words on the 2024 Ferrari, “The first impact on the simulator was good and the sensations are different compared to last year because the SF-24 drives differently and you can feel that it behaves differently.”
While the #55 driver was heaping praise on the 2024 challenger, he refused to comment on the competitiveness of the package just yet. With pre-season testing happening later this month, it is only after wringing the neck of the SF-24 at length, would Sainz be able to give a clearer picture of its performance.
As the season builds up to his start, at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, Sainz has reiterated his commitment towards the team for his last season at Maranello. This comes despite the team choosing to part ways with him, for Lewis Hamilton, at the start of the 2025 Grand Prix season.
