As Ferrari unveiled their 2024 F1 car, called the SF-24, the Tifosi began to manifest championship success all over again, something they have been missing out on since 2008. Amid this, Charles Leclerc, the star driver of the team spoke about the new car and put out all his hope on it. Despite this, the 2023 F1 season’s weakness continues to haunt him.
After building a relatively fine car in 2022, Ferrari slumped heavily in 2023. The team went from being competitive to struggling to finishing in the top three. At one point in 2023, they were the fourth-fastest team on the grid. While the drivers tried their best to extract out performances, the car just didn’t have enough.
It did not have the perfect aerodynamics and had tire wear issues. Notably, Ferrari could not predict how the car would react to the wind situation. Therefore, engineers found it difficult to predict where they would be fast, which in turn affected the set-up they had in mind for the weekend. Now, however, Leclerc hpes and expects the team to rise above this particular issue.
Leclerc said during the presentation of SF-24 as per Gazetta Motori,
“Wind sensitivity was the main aspect to improve, it was the thing that made us sweat the most in 2023 and I hope this problem has been resolved this year.”
The most notable incident was in the Miami Grand Prix when Leclerc began to push for the final run. With two minutes to spare, the Monegasque was P1, but spun out of the track. Later on, it was revealed that a gust of wind rattled the SF-23 and resulted in him crashing out. Nevertheless, Leclerc is hopeful this time as data from the simulator looks promising.
Charles Leclerc is happy after a positive simulation test of the SF-24
The much-awaited SF-24 has finally come out. With this, it is finally time for the drivers to deliver and everyone to know how well Ferrari worked over the winter break. Fans have to wait till live action resumes, to get an idea of how good Ferrari is this year. Leclerc, however, has good feedback.
Leclerc drove the SF-24 on the simulator and had a 15-kilometer test run at Fiorano. He seemed content about the car throughout. Nothing can be said until the lights go out in Bahrain but before that, the Monegasque will have time with the SF-24 when he takes out the car for the 200-kilometre filming day.
Leclerc was excited during the SF-24’s unveiling and speaking on this, the 26-year-old revealed,
“There was also a great desire to see the new design. Of course, the car is red and from that point of view there are no surprises, but I really like the differences in terms of details. Seeing it for the first time is a thrill.”
Nevertheless, Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Tifosi will have high expectations once this season goes underway. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is joining Ferrari as Sainz’s replacement in 2024 will also keep an eye out on their development.
