Ferrari claimed its first 1-2 finish in two years in Melbourne, asserting itself as a legitimate frontrunner in Formula 1. However, the Italian outfit’s team principal, Fred Vasseur, insists that complacency is not an option. Consistent with this declaration, Ferrari is preparing several upgrades to continue improving the SF-24.<\/p>\n
There were plenty of pessimistic assessments of Ferrari’s 2024 car in pre-season. Analysts almost universally described the SF-24 as an underwhelming package due to its lack of dramatic external features.<\/p>\n
For many, the engineers in Maranello had failed to introduce the innovations necessary to challenge Red Bull.<\/a> Roughly 30 days later, this initial scepticism has fallen flat on its face.<\/p>\n To be clear, Ferrari still has a long road ahead. While Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc secured a dominant 1-2 in Australia, external circumstances played into their hands.<\/p>\n Of course, this is nothing new in Formula 1. Despite the seemingly inevitable nature of Verstappen’s dominance last year, unpredictability is an inherent aspect of the sport.<\/p>\n However, when analysing the Scuderia’s competitiveness, Max Verstappen retiring from the race (alongside Perez suffering floor damage) must be taken into account.<\/p>\n