The Ferrari SF-24 was launched today in front of a small audience of guests, while the rest of the world watched online. This is the 70th car that the company builds to participate in the Formula 1 World Championship.
The presentation at the Fiorano circuit was attended by President John Elkann, CEO Benedetto Vigna and Vice President Piero Ferrari, as well as representatives of the partners, as well as members of the team, starting with the team director, Fred Vasseur, and the pilots Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
The busiest season in history, with no less than 24 races, begins next week in Bahrain with the only three-day pre-season test session, followed by the first grand prix at the same venue on Saturday 2 March.
Concept
The SF-24 is the third car of the new generation of Formula 1 with ground effect, but it breaks with the tradition of the last two years, starting with its appearance.
The design group, led by Enrico Cardile, aimed to give Charles and Carlos a car that was easy to drive and reacted predictably, taking as a starting point the positive sensations that the drivers had in the cabin during the last few races from last season. .
The goal is to allow them to make the most of the powertrain’s potential, combined with their undoubted driving skills.
Colors and details
At first glance, the car is aesthetically very different from its predecessors and this also applies to the decoration.
After a positive reception in Las Vegas last November, white returns along with yellow (always Ferrari’s second color), an obvious link with Modena but also a nod to the Maranello brand’s other main automotive activity. of Formula 1, the World Endurance Championship. Championship.
As was the case last year, the SF-24 and WEC 499P share the same shade of red, again this year with a matte finish on the Formula 1 car.
It is not the first time that a Formula 1 Ferrari has worn yellow, although the longitudinal yellow stripes have not been seen since 1968, while this year, for the first time, it is combined with white.
There is therefore less black on the car than in previous years, now restricted to the floor, bargeboards, part of the halo and other small areas.
The wheels are red with a double white and yellow stripe, colors that also appear in the race numbers (16 and 55), which continue to use the official font of the Maranello brand, Ferrari Sans, this time in italics.
First kilometers
The SF-24 will ride on the track for the first time for cinematographic, photographic, marketing and communication purposes, but, of course, these first kilometers give the team the opportunity to perform a shakedown and allow the pilots to get an initial idea of how The car behaves on the track, having evaluated it in the simulator over the last few weeks.
Charles Leclerc, conductor n.° 16:
“I really like the look of the car, including the white and yellow parts of the body. But of course, what I’m really interested in is how it will perform on the track, because that’s all that matters.
The SF-24 should be less sensitive and easier to drive and for us drivers, that’s what we need to get it right. I expect the car to take a step forward in several areas and from the impression I formed in the simulator I think we are where we want to be.
This season the goal is to always be in the lead and I want to give our fans a lot to rejoice by dedicating the race victories to them.”
Carlos Sainz, driver No. 55:
“When I first saw the SF-24, I couldn’t wait to jump in and turn it on. Now I’m looking forward to driving it on the track to see if it correlates with the feeling I had in the simulator, which is that it is the step forward that we all want.
The goal is to have a car that is more manageable and therefore capable of running at a constant race pace, as these are the basic requirements to fight for victory.
We, the drivers, have done our best to give the engineers accurate information and I am sure that the Maranello staff will have listened to our needs. “We want to give the fans something to be happy about, as they supported us a lot last year, even when things weren’t going our way.”