Ferrari Brand Ambassador Marc Gene has revealed that the “sensations are very different” with the team’s 2024 Formula 1 car compared to this time last year.
After recovering to race-winning ways upon F1’s return to ground effect aero in 2022, Ferrari was bidding to build on that and mount a renewed title challenge last season.
However, the Italian marque was hampered by a volatile SF-23 car, which had retained the in-wash bathtub sidepod solution conceived on its F1-75 the previous year.
Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur admitted he was aware it would enter the season on the back foot, having identified issues with the machine on the simulator.
Having opted for a mid-season concept change, Vasseur confirmed that Ferrari’s 2024 challenger will have “95 per cent of the components” changed from its predecessor.
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, Gene, who tested for Ferrari between 2004 and 2010, has divulged how preliminary indications heading into 2024 have been more positive.
“It is true that last year at this point we were no longer completely convinced with the car from what the simulator told us and this year the sensations are very different”, he said.
Ferrari’s switch to the downwash aero philosophy conceived by Red Bull enabled the team to end the champion’s unbeaten run as Carlos Sainz prevailed in Singapore.
However, the Maranello-based squad was unable to optimise its upgraded package due to restrictions around the architecture of its launch-spec car under the cost cap limits.
With the chance for a clean slate over the winter, Ferrari is rumoured to have unlocked 30 points of downforce in the wind tunnel on its 2024 car, according to a report in Italy.
Expanding on Ferrari’s 676 F1 project, Formu1a.uno reports the latest wind tunnel runs have signalled the aerodynamicists have achieved their aim of “obtaining more load without sacrificing too much drag”.
Furthermore, the Italian publication’s source suggests the “data showed a recovery in the order of 30 load points”, which equates to “around four and a half tenths on average”.
That figure has been calculated in comparison to the SF-23 specification used from the Japanese Grand Prix in September, where Ferrari ended its development in 2023.
Formu1a.uno also recently revealed that the front wing on Ferrari’s 2024 car will more closely resemble the design seen on Red Bull’s all-conquering RB19 machine last year.
Both Ferrari drivers struggled in the opening stages of the past season with a car that was lethargic at the front end, which notably hindered Charles Leclerc’s driving style.
While the nose will remain set back, Ferrari is set to launch a modified front wing that will be comparable to the outwash design optimised to devastating effect by Red Bull.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner expects most teams will copy the philosophy of the most recent title-winning car as the Austrian outfit targets “evolution rather than revolution”.
“I’m fully expecting with stable regs and diminishing returns for us – because I think we got to the top of the curve quicker than others – the field is going to converge,” he said.
“There’s always a reset as you go into the following year, and I’m convinced that you’ll see a lot more cars that perhaps look like an RB19 philosophy.
“If you stand still in this business, you tend to be going backwards. And I think that we have got up that curve quicker than others. But we’re into a law of diminishing returns.”
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