Heading to the Fiorano circuit in its Red Bull-style SF-24 “2. 0” upgraded, adding the shark’s mouth at the entrance, Ferrari warned that it wasn’t about the exterior, but “it also had to be right. “from the inside. “
Hot on the heels of McLaren, a much-revised MCL38 on the Miami track and winning, Ferrari will debut its upgraded SF-24 at this weekend’s Imola Grand Prix.
The car, supplied with the full ‘2. 0’ package, has already completed its first laps and Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took part in a 200km running day at the Fiorano circuit on Friday.
The most notable change, according to Formu1a. uno, is the new pontoon inlet, remodeled into the shape of a shark’s mouth used by Red Bull for this year’s RB20.
Making a concerted effort to “bring the SF-24 closer to Red Bull”, the revised car features adjustments to the floor and sidepods.
By redesigning the cooling inlets, Ferrari also redesigned the sidepods and discontinued its S-Duct solution.
“Ferrari now has an absolutely new concept that works in synergy between cooling and aerodynamics,” the report reads. The vertical front, now hooked to the shark’s mouth, represents a kind of “P” front in the Alpine taste but also in Mercedes. Therefore, its exclusive function is internal cooling and blowing.
The engine cover was changed so that air flowed to the fender, while the floor also underwent major changes.
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Ferrari, however, have been warned that while it’s all well and good to copy what they see on the outside, they want to perceive what’s going on in the RB20 to make it work.
Rob van Gameren, from the Ziggo Sport Race Café, said: “For years we’ve been saying that you can copy a car from the outside, but it also has to be right from the inside.
But as his colleague Jack Plooij explains: “But Ferrari called other people from Red Bull Racing. Then you can introduce the inner [knowledge] in this way. “
Team boss Fred Vasseur played down rumours that the update could simply be a “game-changer” for Ferrari.
“We are driving development. And when we’re ready, we’ll produce parts,” he said.
“We shouldn’t expect him to be a game-changer, but he’s so close that he can bring performance. “
Ferrari, which won the Australian Grand Prix, is in the constructors’ championship with 187, while Red Bull leads with 239.
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