When the covers finally came off the SF-24 back in February, the collective exhale from the Tifosi was almost audible. Honestly, it wasn't just about the new lick of paint—though the return of those longitudinal white and yellow stripes for the first time since 1968 looked absolutely stunning. It was about the promise of a "sane" car. After the 2023 season, where the SF-23 would literally try to throw itself into a wall if the wind changed direction by two degrees, Ferrari fans just wanted something predictable.
Basically, the Ferrari 2024 F1 car was built to be an "honest" machine. That’s the word Technical Director Enrico Cardile used. No more peaky aero. No more "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" behavior between qualifying and the race. And for the most part, it delivered. But as we look back on the 2024 campaign, the story isn't just about a better car. It’s about how Ferrari finally stopped trying to build a Red Bull clone and started finding their own way again.
Why the SF-24 Was a Massive Technical Departure
If you looked at the SF-24 and thought, "Hey, that looks like a Red Bull," you weren't entirely wrong. But you weren't entirely right either. Ferrari basically ditched their "in-wash" sidepod philosophy—those famous "bathtub" sidepods from 2022—and moved toward the "down-wash" style everyone else was using.
But the real magic was under the skin.
Vasseur famously claimed they changed 95% of the components from the previous year. That’s a huge number. They shortened the gearbox casing by about 5cm, which might not sound like much, but in F1, 5cm is a lifetime. It gave the aerodynamicists a massive amount of room to play with the diffuser and the floor. This was the "Project 676" evolution everyone was whispering about in the winter.
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The Big Changes You Might Have Missed
- Anti-Dive Suspension: They tweaked the wishbone angles significantly. This kept the car stable under heavy braking, something Charles Leclerc desperately needed to gain confidence.
- Side Impact Structure: They moved the lower bar down into the floor. This allowed for that massive "undercut" under the sidepods, funneling clean air to the back of the car.
- The "S-Duct" Removal: By the time we got to the Imola update (the SF-24 2.0), they had actually binned the internal S-Duct system. It was a bold move that showed they were willing to kill their darlings to find more downforce.
Does the Ferrari 2024 F1 Car Actually Work?
Wins don't lie.
Carlos Sainz winning in Australia just two weeks after having his appendix removed was the first sign that this car was a different beast. It wasn't just fast; it was usable. Then you have Leclerc’s emotional win in Monaco and that tactical masterclass at Monza. The SF-24 proved it could win on high-speed temples and tight street circuits alike.
However, it wasn't all sunshine.
The car had a weird habit of struggling with tire warmup, especially in cooler conditions or during qualifying. You’ve probably noticed Leclerc complaining about it on the radio more than once. Because the car was so much gentler on its tires during the race (a huge improvement over 2023), it struggled to "turn them on" for a single flying lap. It was a classic F1 trade-off. You give some, you take some.
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The Internal Drama and the Vasseur Effect
You can't talk about the Ferrari 2024 F1 car without talking about the man at the top. Fred Vasseur has brought a sort of "no-nonsense" French pragmatism to Maranello. He doesn't hide behind corporate speak. If the team messed up a strategy, he admitted it. If the car was slow, he said so.
This cultural shift was vital.
When the Barcelona upgrade package actually made the car worse by reintroducing "bouncing" (porpoising), the team didn't panic. In the old days, Ferrari might have spent six months denying the problem. Under Vasseur, they took a step back, looked at the data from the Zandvoort weekend—which Leclerc later called the "turning point"—and fixed the floor for the end of the season.
Results at a Glance:
- Victories: 5 (Australia, Monaco, Italy, USA, Mexico City).
- Podiums: 22.
- Final Standing: A narrow P2/P3 battle in the Constructors' that went down to the wire.
What Most People Get Wrong About the SF-24
Most fans think the 2024 car was just a "bridge" to the 2025 Lewis Hamilton era. That's a bit reductive. While the SF-24 did lay the groundwork for Hamilton's arrival, it was a championship contender in its own right during certain phases of the season.
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There's also a misconception that the car was "slow" on the straights. Not really. The 066/12 power unit remained one of the strongest on the grid. The deficit to Red Bull or McLaren was usually found in high-speed cornering stability, not pure grunt. Ferrari focused on mechanical grip and traction out of slow corners, which is why they were so lethal in places like Singapore and Las Vegas.
The Actionable Takeaway for 2025
If you're following Ferrari's trajectory, the SF-24 tells us three things about the future. First, the team has finally mastered tire management, which was their Achilles' heel for nearly a decade. Second, the "Vasseur-led" technical team isn't afraid to admit mistakes and revert to older specs if the data demands it.
Finally, the 2024 season proved that Ferrari is once again a destination for the best talent. You don't sign Lewis Hamilton if your technical department is a mess.
If you want to track how this car evolves, keep a close eye on the front wing development. The "flexi-wing" saga of late 2024 showed that Ferrari is finally playing in the same gray areas of the regulations as McLaren and Red Bull. That’s where championships are won.
Key things to watch for in the off-season:
- Development of the "hybrid" floor concept introduced late in 2024.
- Integration of the new pull-rod front suspension rumors for the 2025 car.
- How the team addresses the qualifying "warm-up" issues seen in the SF-24.
The SF-24 wasn't perfect. But it was the most "serious" car to come out of Maranello in a long, long time. It stopped the bleeding. Now, the Tifosi are just waiting for the knockout blow.