The plans of the ‘Big-4’ for the final stretch of 2024: Ferrari

The Texas GP kicks off the first of two back-to-back GP trios that will bring us to the end of this year’s Formula 1 championship on December 8 in Abu Dhabi.

The changes the teams will make to their cars for either the Texas race or one that follows are likely to be the last for this year. Especially in the case of Ferrari, the efficiency of these changes will decide, in the next two GPs, whether it will continue this year’s development of the cavallino or whether after Mexico (27/10) it will turn its full attention to the 2025 car.

This decision by Ferrari will depend on whether after the two North American races (Texas and Mexico) it still retains realistic hopes for this year’s constructors’ championship. Or at least for 2nd place, against Red Bull, aiming for the extra million dollars that come with it. Ferrari currently trail leaders McLaren by 75 points and RBR by 34 points, with 6 GPs and also 3 Sprint races remaining to the end of the season.

Today, therefore, we continue with the Ferrari single-seater the series of articles that started the day before yesterday (3/10) with McLaren and continued yesterday (4/10) with RBR, concerning the plans of the four major teams for the “final stretch ” of 2024.

Ferrari SF-24
Taking a quick look back at the Italian car’s summer upgrade, we saw the Scuderia introduce an all-new, completely redesigned floor at the Spanish GP in May. This floor provided significant benefits in the wind tunnel and in CFD, but on the track it brought back a major problem of modern ground effect cars: porpoising in straight and very fast corners.

After the Barcelona race, the Maranello team tried to make hasty remedial moves on their new floor, and even in some races (such as at Silverstone) used the old floor they had introduced at the Imola race.

But after the end of the summer, the Scuderia showed a new floor in the final European races, effectively solved the problem, won at Monza, appeared highly competitive in Baku and Singapore (despite Saturday’s mishap at Marina Bay) and returned with claims. in the battle for the top.

It’s true that the tracks that follow on the schedule don’t suit the SF-24 quite as well as the last three, but that’s precisely why the Scuderia will present a set of upgrades to the cavallino at Texas – which, according to director Fred Wasser, will it’s the last one for this year.

The Frenchman explained – speaking to the French network Canal Plus – that Ferrari is now focusing on his car, but also that “We will try to do our best to have some upgrades in the next race as well. The differences are so small in the last four, five, six races, that every little detail can make a difference.”

The Scuderia is encouraged by the fact that the race pace of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the second stint in Singapore, on the hard tyre, matched that of the dominant McLaren. Consequently, some minor aerodynamic improvements are intended to improve the SF-24’s absolute speed in one round of rating tests.

In Singapore, the Italians presented the redesigned front wing of the car. Information from Italy states that this new front wing was designed to achieve the McLaren’s degree of flex – to flex more (within the limits of the regulations, like McLaren) under heavy aerodynamic load on the straights – to limit, thus, air resistance.

And now, knowing that any major interventions might spoil the SF-24’s excellent balance already achieved, Ferrari is preparing minor aerodynamic modifications to the body and floor.

One of them, for example, aims to enhance the lift produced by the muzzle, and this will further contribute to improving the balance of the cavallino.

However, no doubt some of these changes are also being tested for data mining on the ’25 car – something the Scuderia is used to doing at the end of each season.