Eyes on Ferrari at F1 Imola as Upgraded SF-24 Introduced

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• The updated Ferrari features a more pronounced overbite sidepod inlet shape, closer aligning with Red Bull’s RB20.

• The Ferrari's rear wing has been remodeled, while as ever there have been revisions to the aerodynamically crucial floor, hinting at further changes under the skin.

• This weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, held at Imola, is taking place about an hour’s drive from Ferrari’s headquarters at Maranello.

Red Bull Racing remains red hot favorite to claim this year’s Constructors’ Championship, with Max Verstappen holding a healthy advantage in the Drivers’ Championship, but after six rounds of 2024 the team has already faced more defeats than through the whole of 2023.

True, Red Bull was stymied in Australia by a brake caliper issue. In Miami, the timing of the safety car period hampered Verstappen on a weekend in which neither he nor the team fully got on top of the RB20.

Ferrari picked up the pieces Down Under, while in Miami it was McLaren that triumphed, meaning three different teams have won the opening six events. Granted, it is still skewed 4-1-1 in Red Bull’s favor, but it is a more competitive landscape than many feared when the RB20 was unleashed in Bahrain.

Ferrari has established itself as second-best in 2024, edging slightly closer to Red Bull, particularly in race pace, continuing the strong gains it made through the second half of 2023.

It is second in the Constructors’ Championship, 52 points behind Red Bull Racing.

Formula 1’s development race is always crucial, particularly in a cost cap era, where efficiency is prioritized. McLaren brought a substantially upgraded MCL38 to Miami, facilitating Lando Norris’ maiden victory, and teammate Oscar Piastri is also set to receive the full package at Imola.

It is now Ferrari’s turn to take the technical spotlight.

The squad has brought an updated SF-24 to Imola, its first major development of the campaign, coinciding with the start of the logistically simpler European season, and a normal weekend timetable after back-to-back Sprint weekends in which practice and set-up time is limited.

“The target overall, obviously, the upgrades are done in a way that they've been projected and thought about quite a long time ago,” Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said. “It's not like we could react to the first weaknesses of the car. However, it's just to make it a much better car all around. That was the main target.”

Ferrari used a filming day last week at its Fiorano test track to briefly run the upgraded SF-24.

The updated car features a more pronounced overbite sidepod inlet shape, closer aligning with Red Bull’s RB20, the rear wing has been remodeled, while as ever there have been revisions to the aerodynamically crucial floor, hinting at further changes under the skin.

“It was small steps in the right direction,” Leclerc said. “Now it's all to be seen whether in reality we find the gains that we have seen on the simulator, which I hope we do.”

There will be fervent support at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, held at Imola, about an hour’s drive from Ferrari’s headquarters at Maranello.

Ferrari last claimed victory at Imola back in 2006, the final outing for the event under the San Marino Grand Prix banner, before its unexpected revival and subsequent extension as the Emilia Romagna during the pandemic of 2020.

“I think it's part of the history of the sport,” Leclerc said. “Imola is such a crazy track and a track I really enjoy to drive on. It's one of those tracks which I think now that Formula 1 has evolved is a bit more difficult for racing and it's a bit more difficult to overtake. But it's one of the most exciting tracks for the qualifying lap and this I think we all enjoy as drivers. We need to keep some of the history of Formula 1, obviously adapting the tracks to the new cars. Especially being a Ferrari driver, having another race in Italy means a lot to us. To see so much Tifosi, fans and support around the race weekend makes us very happy. So we are happy being here in Imola.”

Ferrari Off-Track Moves

Ferrari is also continuing to strengthen off-track, having recruited two senior figures from Mercedes, Loic Serra and Jerome d’Ambrosio.

Serra, a long-term Mercedes employee and most recently its Performance Director, has been appointed as its new Head of Chassis Performance Engineering, and will report to technical director Enrico Cardile.

Meanwhile, ex-Formula 1 racer Jerome d’Ambrosio, who started 20 races for Marussia and Lotus across 2011-12, will become deputy team principal, and also lead the Ferrari Driver Academy. D’Ambrosio worked closely with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff before formally taking on a management role in early 2023, managing its young driver scheme. Serra and d’Ambrosio will take up their respective positions at the start of October.