Ferrari Technical Director Enrico Cardile insists the team took its “own direction” with development when it came to constructing its car for the upcoming Formula 1 season.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner predicted that multiple cars this year would resemble the title-winning RB19 that swept to victory in 21 out of 22 races last term.
Ferrari was one of several sides that abandoned a troubled concept to converge upon the downwash solution conceived by Red Bull midway through the past season.
The Italian marque had retained the inwash ‘bathtub’ sidepods from its race-winning predecessor, the F1-75, but its 2023 creation had transpired to be a mercurial performer.
Although it rebounded to land the only non-Red Bull win of the year and became a regular contender for poles, Ferrari has pursued a “complete revamp” with the SF-24.
However, Cardile has denied that Ferrari’s latest creation has been the product of inspiration from Red Bull, citing that its work was tailored to addressing its limitations.
“We took definitely our own direction; we did during last year a big job to understand what at the end of the day driveability meant in terms of shaping the aero map, so the direction is our own,” Cardile told selected media including Motorsport Week.
“I’m not able to say where Red Bull [is] in terms of target setting went or is going in the future. Once they find the target we obviously scan several options and we find on the current one that the best way to achieve our own targets.”
Cardile has conceded that switching its concept for the third year of the latest ground effect regulations has placed Ferrari at a disadvantage against Red Bull, who have since been shown to have committed to some aggressive innovations for 2024.
Asked how much of a handicap it is to be two years behind Red Bull on development, Cardile replied: “Difficult to say for sure is not a strength to move to change direction or development, but it is already one year that we are developing in this direction and as soon as we start competing with the others we will see the gap we will have in both directions.”
Cardile also revealed that Ferrari has made revisions to its various rear wing configurations in a bid to counter Red Bull’s evident advantage when its DRS flap is open.
Pressed on whether DRS had been a focus of Ferrari’s winter work, Cardile answered: “Yes, it is. I mean a part of the development of this car has been also to revamp completely the rear wing, so the car has been already presented with a new mid-downforce rear wing and we are revamping accordingly all the range pretty much we have.
“Yeah, so we focus our attention also on the rear wings.”
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed a shakedown of the SF-24 at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track ahead of three days of pre-season testing starting on 21 February in Bahrain.
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