Ferrari had a fine start to the new regulations when the ground effect returned in Formula 1 in 2022. Banking on this performance, the Prancing Horse wanted to improve further and be the absolute best in 2023. However, the SF-23 failed to match Red Bull’s prowess. With Ferrari deciding to forget the past now, their focus lies on the upcoming campaign as Ferrari ambassador Marc Gene spilled out an interesting secret about the team’s upcoming 2024 F1 challenger.
Gene is a Spanish former racing driver who has experience in driving in F1 and Le Mans. He serves as an expert analyst for Sky Sports F1 HD in Italy and at the same time holds the status of being the brand ambassador for the prancing horse. Gene is believed to have seen the upcoming car up close. Therefore, he revealed that the sensations of the car felt different from its predecessor.
The 49-year-old said as per MotorsportWeek,
“It is true that last year at this point we were no longer completely convinced with the car from what the simulator told us, and this year the sensations are very different.”
We’re getting closer to launch day pic.twitter.com/i8APIEvCc8
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 30, 2024
Furthermore, the reports also suggested that the Italian team was able to obtain more load without experiencing too much drag. Thanks to their latest wind tunnel runs. This put them in a good place ahead of 2024 as they can now bank on data recovery. A recovery in the order of 30 load points, which means around four and a half tenths on average.
According to the report by Formu1a.uno, the figure has been calculated by tallying the SF-23 specification from the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix in September with that of the season-ending 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November. This, indeed is a big leap for the Italian team, but also at the same time nothing too much to go against the mighty Red Bull.
Ferrari and their development for the 2024 F1 season
After a underwhelming two years, the pressure is high on Fred Vasseur and Co. to put up a genuine title challenge. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are both desperate to win races, something they barely managed to do last year against Verstappen’s repeated onslaught.
This is probably the reason why Vasseur and his engineers decided to go the Red Bull way. According to the report, Ferrari is going all out on closely resembling their 2024 F1 challenger with that of RB-19 – the mighty car that won 21 wins out of 22 races. However, there’s still an issue with the car and it is the nose.
New year, New name.
2024 loading… ⏳https://t.co/zMzL0Ms5E2 pic.twitter.com/w8v9xvcnMV
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 29, 2024
Leclerc and Sainz faced stiffness with the nose of the SF-23 last year. Any update on its improvement is still pending, whereas the engineers are all set to launch a modified front wing. It is expected to be a lot similar to the outwash design route taken by Red Bull already.
With Ferrari trying to get closer, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner expects more competition on the grid in 2024. The Red Bull boss admitted that the upcoming season will not be a cakewalk for them. This is because McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes are all improving. However, he is not bothered by them as he believes in Adrian Newey and Co.
The British boss has wholehearted belief in evolution rather than revolution and is in a good place to continue their dominance for the upcoming season. The RB-20 is expected to be a finer machine than its predecessor and Newey will not leave any scope for Verstappen to complain when the business starts in Bahrain in a month’s time.
