Ferrari on Tuesday unveiled its new car developed for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, the SF-24.
The car is Ferrari's 70th F1 race car, and will be piloted in the new season by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. For Sainz, it will be his last season with Ferrari as the team last week announced that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will replace him for the 2025 season.
Serving as team principal of Ferrari's F1 team is once again Fred Vasseur.
The 2024 F1 cars follow most of the same design rules as the cars that competed last year, but some key changes have been made. In the case of the SF-24, designers were focused on making the car easier to drive and more predictable in its behaviors. Reliability was also a major focus given the record 24 races planned for the season.
Carlos Sainz (left) and Charles Leclerc
The SF-24's shape has been altered substantially compared to the SF-23 it replaces, particularly around the engine cover, side pods, and front wing. According to Enrico Cardile, the technical director for the chassis, every area of the chassis has been redesigned.
The rules for power unit designs are fixed across all teams. Ferrari uses its own internally developed power unit, which in line with the rules consists of a turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 working in combination with two motor-generators, one on the driveline and another integrated with the turbo. Haas and Sauber (competing this season as Kick Sauber) also rely on Ferrari power units.
The new car's livery features a shade of red that is common with Ferrari's LMH race car, the 499P, just like last season's design. However, the designers this season attempted to add more common elements for the livery, like introducing more yellow accents alongside the traditional white.
Pre-season testing will run Feb. 21-23 at the Bahrain International Circuit before the first race of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, takes place at the same location on March 2.
