Ferrari SF24 development, Cardile: “Clear picture of the weaknesses”

Red Bull target

There Ferrari started 2024 decidedly better than 2023, when all the defects of the SF-23 emerged, a car that on paper should have completed the title mission of the F1-75 thanks to the improvements to the power unit in terms of reliability. Compared to the SF-23, the SF-24 gives Leclerc and Sainz much more confidence and the fact that it is an 'easy' car was also demonstrated by Oliver Bearman's debut.

Ferrari's chassis manager Enrico Cardile declared that the SF-24's performance reflected what was expected, a decidedly positive starting point, even if the gap from Red Bull is still tangible: “After the first two races of the season, with the two podium finishes, we can say we are satisfied with the gradient of improvement that the SF-24 shows compared to the previous single-seater. – Cardile's words – both the tests and the first races provided us with positive confirmations compared to the development path we outlined last year. Obviously we cannot say we are satisfied with two third places: Red Bull is still faster than us, and although our performance so far has been better than that of the other top teams, this is still not enough for us. There is still a lot of work to do“.

Cardile added that the picture of the SF-24's weaknesses on which to try to intervene is clear: “The first GPs confirmed a good correlation of our simulation tools, which is certainly positive. In short, we had no surprises: the limitations we encountered in the factory during the winter were confirmed by the track. Today we can say that we have a pretty clear picture of the car's weaknesses, starting with tire management and balance. Formula 1 is based on continuous improvement and planning: the first events confirmed which development direction to pursue, and also the priorities we had given ourselves. So the focus in the company is to quickly find performance in the tunnel and work hard to bring the updates to the track as soon as possible, exploiting, in the meantime, all the potential that our car can have”.

Being second force at this moment of the season does not mean being second force at the end. Cardile reiterated this aspect, mindful of what happened positively to Ferrari in 2023, but also to McLaren. To improve the current situation one can only question the supremacy of Red Bull: “Before the start of the first hour of free practice it is always difficult to have realistic expectations, because each team is only aware of its own work, and it is not possible to know the true values ​​on the field. That said, we are only at the beginning of a very long season, and a good pace of improvement in the car will be crucial. Last year showed us how values ​​on the field can change, in both directions. We ourselves started as fourth force, then we recovered and finished the championship fighting for second position. So for the next few months our only objective is to recover ground against those who currently occupy the top positions“.