It’s a month and a half until February 13th, the official launch date of the Ferrari 2024 challenger. The 676 project’s key points have already been defined, mostly concerning aerodynamic appearance.
Leclerc and Sainz are now in rather advanced discussions regarding their contract renewals. Frédéric Vasseur is personally involved in these talks.
The Ferrari duo will find themselves driving a car with significant differences compared to 2022 and 2023.
From the latest wind tunnel sessions: Greater load relative to aerodynamic efficiency
The 2024 season represents a definitive watershed with the past on various fronts.
First of all, it will be the first year with Frederic Vasseur’s tangible imprint in what is called the “settebello” at Scuderia Ferrari.
What was inherited by Mattia Binotto can only be largely left behind, including the technical aspect of the single-seater.
The regulatory changes introduced by the FIA in August 2022 negatively impacted Ferrari and positively benefited Red Bull.
The 15 mm increase in the rear part of the floor, in addition to the 10 mm change at the diffuser, favoured the world champion team. Adrian Newey himself has admitted to this:
“The interesting thing is that some of our guys wanted to fight that change.
“But instead, I felt that in high-speed corners, we were probably behind Ferrari in 2022, and the change in rules could be suitable for us to close that gap”, said the English technician to his colleagues from The Race.
Not only did Red Bull close the gap, but they left their rivals behind. Mercedes and Ferrari stumbled whilst Aston Martin and McLaren entered the fray.
Ferrari 2024, as reiterated by Vassuer himself, “more than a revolution will be an evolution.”
The Italian car has been revised compared to its previous iteration, with the change of skin that began last year in the Spanish GP. This was the first step towards an important change in aerodynamic philosophy.
With the implementation of the downwash sidepods, the results in the tunnel were negative in terms of downforce points compared to the initial specification, as well as at Mercedes.
However, it was a necessary compromise to open up new avenues of development for the following year’s car.
The focus was on maintaining the “strengths” of the SF-23 whilst resolving its problems. The latest wind tunnel sessions have led to what the aerodynamicists were looking for, namely obtaining more load without sacrificing too much drag.
In Maranello, important comparison work was carried out between the SF-23 specification post-Japan and this year’s 676 – to accurately interpret the team’s progress before definitively archiving the old model.
The data showed a recovery in the order of 30 load points, i.e. 9% of useful downforce – worth around four and a half tenths on average.
Clearly, it cannot be taken as a real and unique profit value since the performance will depend on many other technical factors.
With the same regulations and tyres, it would seem to be a good figure (purely aerodynamic) and in line with the winter expectations of the top teams.
Nonetheless, no one has forgotten the important discrepancy between expectations and reality, as shown by the SF-23 since the Bahrain tests.
Greater knowledge should limit surprises in terms of development. However, the unpredictability of these cars cannot be overlooked – this is something teams have learned the hard way.
The aim is to eliminate the gap from the RB19. However, Maranello asks how much time Red Bull has under its sleeve.
With the cars of this new generation, “there are no miracles”, we have been told over and over again by some experts.
It is crucial for the floor and tyres to be stable across various conditions.
Ferrari and Mercedes made mistakes in their 2023 development, further compromising their chances this season. Inevitably, this makes the RB20 an undisputed favourite in 2024.
McLaren took advantage of the setbacks experienced by the two top teams and the disappointing development of Aston Martin.
But it is taking the last step, that is, reaching the Anglo-Austrian team, which remains the most difficult mission to complete.
“We know that if we want to maintain the level of competitiveness shown in the second half of the season, we will have to be able to gain at least half a second over the winter.” Andrea Stella, Mclaren team principal, candidly admitted.
This value is very similar to what they found in Maranello with the 676 project in terms of pure aerodynamic load alone.
Will it be enough? Only the track will be able to tell, considering that no team can know how much the technical team led by Pierre Wache has done in terms of the development of the RB19.
The limitations imposed by the FIA after the 2022 budget cap breach (which expired only recently) cannot be forgotten.
Author: Rosario Giuliana
Co-Authors: Giuliano Duchessa & Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
