Ferrari Races Against Time for Ambitious Upgrade to Deflate Max Verstappen’s Confidence in Spain

The 2024 season has not been as one-sided as previous ground-effect era campaigns. Max Verstappen and Red Bull haven’t showcased the dominance shown in 2022 and 2023, and the Dutchman has already lost three races after the first nine rounds. However, with F1 returning to more traditional circuits from the Spanish GP onwards, Red Bull’s rivals – especially Ferrari – are running out of time to launch a title challenge.

While McLaren (another one of Red Bull’s competitors) already introduced a major upgrade in Miami earlier this season, Ferrari plans on introducing theirs in Barcelona. According to a report from speedweek.com, the Maranello-based outfit will introduce a new underbody to the SF24.

The hope is that this new upgrade will help the car generate more downforce, and go faster. The report adds that Ferrari initially planned on this upgrade for Silverstone. But now, they are fast-tracking it after their horror outing at the Canadian GP, where both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz suffered a DNF.

While the Prancing Horse is desperate to get back to form at the upcoming race at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, introducing a new upgrade won’t be easy.

A team usually “builds three of such an important new part, one for each driver and one in reserve.” So it is still uncertain whether Ferrari will be able to introduce the upgrade in time or not. If they can’t, it is an advantage for Red Bull (or McLaren even) for the Spanish GP.

Ferrari running out of time after the Canadian GP horror show

With three different teams in the running for the constructors’ title this season, all contenders need to ensure that they maximize their strong race weekends. Ferrari failed to do exactly that in Montreal- a circuit many believed would favor them.

Their struggles began from qualifying itself, as both Leclerc and Sainz failed to reach Q3. While they both hoped that salvaging points would not be a very daunting task, Leclerc and Sainz suffered massive disappointment, owing to their DNFs.

Double DNF for Ferrari in Canada.

— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) June 9, 2024

Verstappen took advantage of Ferrari’s struggles and went on to beat McLaren’s Lando Norris for the win. For the Dutchman, who was not expecting to win in Canada, it was a huge bonus.

Now, with the 26-year-old being the favorite to win in Barcelona, he and Red Bull could extend their lead even further in the Championship.