The Ferrari SF-24 hits the road for the first time in Fiorano, and it’s in a new shade of red with touches of yellow and white.
The new Ferrari SF-24 is finally here and ready for an intense 2024 F1 season. Scuderia Ferrari shared a short video on February 13th unveiling the new car. It started with Enzo Ferrari’s voice: “The most important victory is the one I have yet to win”.
If compared to last year, this one was a very minimalistic presentation. The team decided to keep it low profile, but this didn’t stop the Tifosi to gather in front of the Fiorano track.
This is all Fred Vasseur’s work. For the 2023 season, the Scuderia Ferrari TP inherited the team and the car. It was a difficult year for the Cavallino, Vasseur tried to manage it with his mind already on the SF-24. Now things are different, the TP and the Enrico Cardile’s team started a revolution in Maranello.
SF-24: what’s new?
The most obvious change is the livery. For this year, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be in a bright red. The black is gone while the white comes back, a shade that is very dear to Scuderia Ferrari and as it nods to Lauda’s times. There is also the Giallo Modena, the shade of yellow chosen by Enzo Ferrari for the logo. It also reminds of the Ferrari Hypercar which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The moment you’ve all been waiting for…
The SF-24 is here!! ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/KVEcU5929j
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 13, 2024
The nose is slightly shorter, and it ends on the second element of the wing. Cardile has chosen to adopt the Red Bull Racing philosophy for the side parts of the new car. However, they kept the push-rod in the front part and the pull-rod in the back, the opposite of the team of Milton Keynes.
All the changes were made in the name of “driveability”. Last year the car was difficult to control, the team struggled to predict its performance from race to race. So, this was the main focus for the Cavallino.
The goal is the same: chasing Red Bull, the World Champions, and taking the title back to Maranello.
A year of change
2024 will be a transitional year for Ferrari. With Lewis Hamilton joining the Scuderia in 2025, new mechanics and engineers will come with him.
Charles Leclerc, the actual captain of the team this year, said that he expects the car to perform better and to have more wins. “The feeling was good”, said the Monégasque, “but we will see when we’ll be on track”.
About his future teammate, Leclerc commented that a champion like Lewis Hamilton will bring a lot of experience, which it’s obviously a good thing. However, he didn’t want to talk about it too much to respect Carlos Sainz, since he’s still his partner.
Jump onboard the SF-24 as @Carlossainz55 & @Charles_Leclerc get their first laps in for 2024! 👊 #SF24 #F1 pic.twitter.com/QhwxlZjNUb
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 14, 2024
The number 55, ready to say goodbye to Ferrari at the end of the season, confirmed Leclerc’s words about the SF-24. Sainz said that the team wants to fight for the Championship and everyone worked hard to improve every area of the project.
Naturally, only the 24 races ahead will tell if the hopes and dreams of Ferrari and its Tifosi will come true. From February 21st until the 23rd, the whole grid will test the new cars in Bahrain. Formula 1 will come back on March 2nd with the Bahrain Gran Prix, it’s lights out and away we go.
