After narrowly lacking the Constructors’ Championship this season, Scuderia Ferrari is aiming for the large prize in 2025. The 2024 automobile initiated a conceptual revolution by altering Maranello’s design strategy, a metamorphosis too vital to be accomplished in only one yr. The 2025 Ferrari will full this metamorphosis with new options designed to handle the weak factors of the already spectacular SF-24.
Completely different in form however, above all, in conduct, the 2024 Ferrari single-seater marks a break from the previous. From the bodywork to cooling and suspension techniques, the SF-24 automobile’s geometries are tailor-made to a brand new approach of engaged on monitor. This ends in a stability completely different from earlier Ferraris, with a spotlight totally on drivability. “We needed to scale back lap instances by delivering a automobile that’s higher to drive and sturdy in any wind and asphalt temperature situation,” defined former technical director Enrico Cardile throughout the presentation again in February – “Drivability was improved by prioritizing sure aerodynamic facets over others.”
The revolution’s roots date again to the 2023 Method 1 season, when the Maranello staff undertook intensive evaluation to translate drivability into numerical objectives, rethinking the aerodynamic map. With this new route, Ferrari seeks to shed the traits typical of the 2023 automobile and people predating ground-effect laws—vehicles with nice peak efficiency however restricted to a slender vary of situations, normally solely achievable with new tires within the qualifying session. The result’s a extra predictable automobile, simpler to develop and perceive for drivers, who can now push it to the restrict with out extreme corrections, preserving the tires higher over lengthy distances.
This represents a broader working window, which, as Frederic Vasseur famous, simplifies setup work: “That is the most important step ahead in comparison with final yr—not that it’s a simple automobile to deal with, however it permits us to succeed in setup compromise for the weekend extra shortly.” If Ferrari was capable of take the struggle to McLaren for the 2024 F1 title till the final lap of the ultimate race, it was due to this sturdy execution, constantly extracting the utmost from the automobile in each driving and setup.
The qualifying compromise
The idea Ferrari is pursuing aligns with Frederic Vasseur’s tips, selling a race-oriented strategy over one centered on single-lap efficiency. The SF-24 is more practical over lengthy distances, a high quality partially derived from its aerodynamics. Floor-effect vehicles are extraordinarily delicate to experience top, which modifications considerably with gasoline load and cornering speeds, that are larger in qualifying. Maranello’s aerodynamicists have shifted the compromise towards race efficiency, creating a balanced automobile that’s higher than McLaren early on and sooner than Crimson Bull within the closing levels. Nonetheless, the tightening of the sector calls for higher qualifying efficiency for 2025. A robust race tempo turns into troublesome to use when ranging from behind, particularly given the rising aerodynamic disruption confronted by trailing vehicles as aerodynamics grow to be extra advanced.
The stability between qualifying and race efficiency additionally pertains to tire administration. The SF-24 is especially light on tires, with good administration of entrance graining and glorious management of rear degradation, particularly within the ultimate laps on softer compounds. By transferring much less power to the tires in 2024, Ferrari has been capable of restrict overheating, gaining competitiveness as ambient temperatures rise. Nonetheless, this compromises the power to shortly deliver the tires as much as temperature within the opening laps and extract peak grip, contributing to weaker single-lap efficiency. Ferrari will goal to handle this within the 2025 Method 1 marketing campaign by engaged on suspension geometries and mechanics. These measures can be important to adapt to new tires, which Pirelli has developed with larger working temperatures in thoughts.
Regardless of its renewal, the 2024 Ferrari automobile continues to hold a continual weak spot that has plagued the Scuderia over the previous 5 years. “Our principal drawback is medium-slow mixed corners,” Carlos Sainz acknowledged mid-season, echoing Charles Leclerc’s observations. For years, Ferrari has struggled with instability throughout the lengthy phases of medium-speed corners, a energy of rival McLaren. This difficulty partly explains Maranello’s recurring mid-season decline on the sweeping turns of European circuits. It’s a flaw that predates the ground-effect laws, signaling a particular growth strategy Ferrari is now attempting to right.
The brand new flooring, examined from Las Vegas onward, represents a powerful assertion of intent on this regard. Charles Leclerc described it as “a special strategy,” which, in comparison with the earlier idea, “is excellent in some areas and worse in others.” Ferrari goals to enhance its conduct in high-speed sections, the place the automobile skims the bottom, and in slower, longer corners, the place vast steering angles and yaw expose the ground to wheel turbulence. To realize this, Ferrari might should sacrifice a few of its present strengths, resembling agility in 90° gradual corners typical of avenue circuits, in change for a greater general stability.
It is a long-term challenge that can’t be accomplished inside a single Method 1 season. The updates delivered to the SF-24 deal with different areas, resembling high-speed corners with the Imola bundle or front-end load with the Singapore wing. “Even when the updates work, there are some traits you’ll be able to’t remedy with easy growth,” Carlos Sainz summarized. The revolution Ferrari has begun spans two years, with the objective of addressing instability in cornering and different remaining shortcomings by 2025.
The SF-24’s evolution couldn’t be accomplished in a single yr. Redesigning a totally completely different automobile in such a short while was unimaginable, requiring sure fastened factors amidst the numerous variables launched on the 2024 Ferrari. Notable modifications embody abandoning the wide-body idea in favor of slimmer sidepods to enhance airflow high quality towards the diffuser. This shift required new methods for managing turbulence. The implications prolong to the chassis, which wanted extra advanced geometries to accommodate cumbersome digital parts and carve out the narrower sidepod form.
The SF-24 additionally options vital modifications to the rear, introducing a brand new suspension idea partially built-in into the gearbox. “It’s a brand new idea, an innovation for us as a result of it’s a special approach of managing the suspension in comparison with what we’ve executed previously,” defined Enrico Cardile at that second. Ferrari’s confidence in not conforming to the competitors is commendable, because it stays devoted to the rear pull-rod suspension, reinterpreted with a special perspective. Ferrari’s sturdy performances at Monaco and Baku are partly as a consequence of this suspension, which, in balancing airflow administration, preserves mechanical conduct over bumps.
Given the quite a few modifications carried out on the SF-24, Ferrari needed to defer some modifications to 2025. For example, the 2024 entrance suspension continues the earlier setup, leaving questions on whether or not the following automobile will discover completely different geometries, together with the pull-rod/push-rod scheme and anti-dive kinematics. The primary Ferrari pushed by Lewis Hamilton will inherit traits from the automobile that got here near the Constructors’ Championship however will even introduce new options to finish the conceptual shift.
In Abu Dhabi, Charles Leclerc summed up the concerns of Ferrari followers for the upcoming yr: “There are various examples the place we completed a season strongly, solely to battle at the beginning of the following one.” Previously, Ferrari’s pursuit of most efficiency has undermined the stability of the next automobile, depriving the staff of the consistency wanted to struggle for titles. This time, nonetheless, drivability is the cornerstone of Ferrari’s new idea, carried out throughout this transitional biennium. The appointment of Loic Serra as Chassis Technical Director aligns with Maranello’s new design philosophy. Loic Serra’s experience in car dynamics will assist channel aerodynamic work towards stability, stability, and flexibility.
The 2025 Ferrari will thus full the revolution begun in 2024 whereas additionally defining the strategy the Maranello staff will take underneath the 2026 laws.
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