Ferrari says its confident about chasing improvements in race pace with its new SF-24 design while retaining the qualifying performance it enjoyed last season.
The Italian outfit’s 2024 challenger marks a significant departure from its predecessor, boasting a "complete revamp" designed to create a more compliant and driver-friendly platform.
This shift suggests a conscious effort to address shortcomings experienced in 2023, where strong qualifying performances often translated into disappointing race finishes.
Enrico Cardile, Ferrari’s technical director on the chassis side of its operations, emphasized the ou’fit's desire to "put together the two worlds," maintaining their qualifying prowess while unlocking better race-day performance.
The Italian recognizes the challenge of maintaining peak performance on worn tyres and under changing conditions, highlighting the importance of "drivability" in extracting consistent pace throughout a race.
“The intention will be to put together the two worlds, keeping having a competitive car in quali, but with a platform more friendly, more exploitable, also during the race with a better performance in race,” Cardile told the media at the presentation of Ferrari’s SF-24 last week.
“When we talk about drivability, part of the drivability is how easy it is to extract the performance, which can be done with a light car, new tyres on one single lap but then becoming trickier and trickier during the race as the tyres wear, the wind changes and so on…
“So the purpose of increasing the drivability of the car is to have a better performance also in the race.”
Ferrari’s focus on "drivability" transcends mere handling characteristics. It encompasses a holistic approach to car development, seeking a platform that adapts effectively to varying race scenarios.
This could involve improvements in tyre wear management, aerodynamic stability, and engine efficiency, all crucial factors in sustaining pace over a full race distance.
Cardile admits that he doesn’t know yet which aspect of the SF-24’s performance – qualifying or race pace – might require a degree of compromise.
“The drivability content has been achieved with the aerodynamics of the car by shaping the map, giving priority to some aspect of the aerodynamics instead of others,” he added.
“What will happen with this new platform during the season in terms of compromising the quali session for the race session is something we will see when we are on track and now is too early to say if this car will be more competitive in race than in quali like it has been the past cars.”
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