The Ferrari SF-24 was launched in entrance of a small viewers of visitors right this moment whereas the remainder of the world watched on-line. It is the seventieth automotive the corporate constructed to take part within the Formula 1 World Championship.
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Attending the presentation on the Fiorano monitor have been President John Elkann, CEO Benedetto Vigna and Vice-President Piero Ferrari, together with representatives of the companions, in addition to staff members, beginning with Team Principal Fred Vasseur and the drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The busiest season ever, with no fewer than 24 races, will get underway subsequent week in Bahrain with the one pre-season three-day check session, adopted by the primary grand prix on the similar venue on Saturday, 2 March.
Concept. The SF-24 is the third automotive of the brand new Formula 1 floor impact technology, however it breaks with the custom of the previous two years, beginning with the look of it. The design group, led by Enrico Cardile, aimed to provide Charles and Carlos a automotive that’s straightforward to drive and that reacts predictably, with, as a place to begin, the constructive feeling the drivers had within the cockpit over the ultimate few races of final season. The purpose is to permit them to take advantage of the facility unit’s potential, mixed with their undoubted ability behind the wheel.
Colours and particulars. At first look, the automotive is aesthetically very completely different from its predecessors, and this additionally goes for the livery. Following a constructive reception in Las Vegas final November, white makes its return along with yellow – all the time Ferrari’s second color –an evident hyperlink with Modena but additionally a nod to the Maranello marque’s different principal racing exercise other than Formula 1, specifically the World Endurance Championship. As was the case final yr, the SF-24 and the WEC 499P share the identical shade of pink, once more this yr with a matt end on the Formula 1 automotive. It’s not the primary time {that a} Ferrari Formula 1 automotive has featured yellow, though the yellow longitudinal stripes haven’t been seen since 1968, whereas this yr, it’s paired with white for the primary time. There is, subsequently, much less black on the automotive than in earlier years, now restricted to the ground, the bargeboards, a part of the halo and different small areas. The wheels are pink with a double white and yellow stripe; these colors additionally characteristic the race numbers -16 and 55, which proceed to make use of the Maranello marque’s official font, Ferrari Sans, this time in italics.
First kilometres. The SF-24 will run on monitor for the primary time for filming, photographic, advertising and marketing and communications functions. Still, these first few kilometres give the staff an opportunity to hold out a shakedown and permit the drivers to get an preliminary concept of how the automotive behaves on monitor, having assessed it on the simulator in latest weeks.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal:
Presenting a brand new automotive to the world for the primary time is all the time very thrilling for the drivers and me; even when we’re all already desirous about the second, we are going to face to face with our rivals on the monitor. This yr, we should begin the place we left off on the finish of final season once we have been constant entrance runners to enhance continuously in all areas. The longest-ever Formula 1 season awaits us. Charles, Carlos and I agree we should be extra scientific and efficient in managing the races, making daring decisions to get the very best consequence at each Grand Prix. It’s usually mentioned that your followers can provide you additional gear, which shall be true in a intently contested championship. We are proud to know we will depend on our “tifosi” from all over the world.
Charles Leclerc, Driver #16:
I just like the automotive’s look, together with the white and yellow elements on the bodywork. But in fact, what actually pursuits me is the way it will carry out on monitor, as that’s all that issues. The SF-24 should be much less delicate and extra accessible to drive; that’s what it is advisable do nicely for us drivers. I anticipate the automotive to be a step ahead in a number of areas, and from the impression I shaped within the simulator, I believe we’re the place we wish to be. This season, the intention is to be entrance runners on a regular basis, and I like to provide our followers loads to cheer about by dedicating race wins to them.
Carlos Sainz, driver #55:
When I noticed the SF-24 for the primary time, I couldn’t wait to leap in and hearth it up. I’m wanting ahead to driving it on monitor to see if it correlates with the sensation I had from the simulator, which is the step ahead all of us need. The intention is to have a extra driveable automotive and, subsequently, have the ability to run at a constant race tempo, as these are the fundamental necessities to combat for wins. We drivers have completed our easiest to provide the engineers exact suggestions, and I’m certain the workforce in Maranello can have listened to our wants. We wish to share with the followers one thing to cheer about, as they have been so supportive final yr, even when issues weren’t going our means.
Enrico Cardile, Technical Director Chassis:
With the SF-24, we wished to create a completely new platform. Every space of the automotive has been redesigned, even when our place to begin was the event route we adopted final yr, which noticed us leap ahead when it comes to competitiveness within the remaining a part of the season. We have taken on board what the drivers advised us and turned these concepts into engineering actuality to provide them a automotive that’s simpler to drive and, subsequently, simpler to get essentially the most out of and push it to its limits. We didn’t set ourselves any design constraints apart from delivering a robust and trustworthy racing automotive that would reproduce on the race monitor what we had seen within the wind tunnel.
Enrico Gualtieri, Technical Director Power Unit:
Even although the rules freeze energy unit improvement, it doesn’t imply that 2024 doesn’t current some thrilling challenges. We shall be tackling extra races than in every other yr of the championship, and that can require us to react extra shortly, with fewer hours accessible on the check mattress. To put together for this, we now have reviewed all of the processes referring to the engine – preparation, signing-off and administration – to maximise efficiency. Furthermore, we now have labored very intently with our companions to optimise additional procedures referring to reliability: for instance, on the monitor, due to the common monitoring of the fluids within the automotive, Shell can continuously examine on the state of well being of the facility unit.
