Ferrari Announces Final Upgrade Of 2024 Season For The United States Grand Prix

Saajan Jogia | Sep 29, 2024

Charles Leclerc wins the Italian Grand Prix. / Ferrari

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur revealed that the team will be introducing small upgrades to the SF-24 F1 car for the upcoming United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). He claimed that as the season approaches its final months, the team aligns itself with the development of the 2025 title contender.

Ferrari began the season with a strong performance, regularly challenging Red Bull at the front during several impressive weekends. It initially led the fight against the dominant team until Mercedes and McLaren entered the fray.

However, following a mid-season upgrade at Barcelona, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz experienced significant bouncing issues. A recent report revealed that the team traced the problem to a wind tunnel anomaly, where the data from the wind tunnel conflicted with the car's actual on-track performance.

As the season advanced, Ferrari worked diligently to identify the underlying issue, facing numerous challenges along the way. A standout performance at the Azerbaijan GP, where Leclerc clinched pole position and finished second, renewed confidence and suggested progress in reconciling the differences between wind tunnel data and on-track results.

Now, though, for the race at Austin, the team plans to bring small upgrades, as it remains in the fight for the Constructors' Championship, trailing leading team McLaren by 75 points. Talking about the plan for the future, Vasseur told the media:

"We all know that we already started the development of the next car, and we try to do our best to have small upgrades at the next one [race].

"I think it will be probably the last one for everybody; that will be true for us, but it will be true for the other teams.

"Now it's so tight overall in the last four or five, six races, if you have a look on the grid, it may get tight and every single bit can make a difference."

During the race in Singapore, the team opted for different strategies from their ninth and tenth start positions on the grid. Sainz made an early pit stop to regain clear air after losing places at the start, while Leclerc delayed his stop for a later point in the race. Ultimately, Leclerc finished fifth, closely contesting George Russell for fourth, while Sainz crossed the line in seventh on worn-out hard tires. Vasseur explained the reason for the different strategies:

"To start [on] soft, you can make one position perhaps.

"But if you want to be aggressive, you will pit lap 12 or 15 like Lewis [Hamilton] did - you don't have another choice.

"At least to start with medium, we had the opportunity to extend, the scenario of the race was a bit different and I think it was a good strategy.

"But the fact that we split the cars to do one early stop and then another one who extended was also the good call I think and it went pretty well due to the track position of the stint."