No more updates expected for Ferrari this year
Despite the battle in the constructors' championship, Ferrari are believed to have abandoned the development of their SF-24 for the remainder of the 2024 F1 season.
Although Red Bull dominated the opening races, Ferrari appeared to be the second quickest package at the start of the season. Carlos Sainz managed to convert the encouraging pace into a race victory at the Australian Grand Prix before Charles Leclerc went on to dominate his home round in Monaco.
However, the Scuderia slightly lost its way with an upgrade package introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Italian team quickly realized that the developments generated severe bouncing in high-speed corners which saw the Scuderia struggle for pace through the summer races.
While the first race after the summer shutdown at Zandvoort saw Ferrari struggle for pace in qualifying, the SF-24 suddenly showed impressive race pace. The team then introduced some key developments, including a new floor, at its home race in Monza, and the new package and the nature of the track saw Leclerc clinch his second victory, followed by further strong showings at the subsequent Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix.
The Monégasque then dominated the United Stated Grand Prix to secure his third triumph of the season before his team-mate went on to demonstrate dominant form at Mexico City to add the fifth victory to Ferrari's tally in 2024.
The last round in Brazil saw Ferrari struggle with tyre wear in the hot sprint race before lacking pace in the wet qualifying and race. Reflecting on the Scuderia's day at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has acknowledged that the SF-24 lacked pace in the challenging conditions.
"We have mixed feelings as we were able to limit the damage in our fight with McLaren, but on the other hand, we should have also scored points with Carlos, not just with Charles.
"With both drivers the timing of pit stops was not the best but in general we struggled a lot with the pace and in getting the tyres to the right temperatures after every restart.
Despite the tough result last time out at Sao Paulo, Ferrari team boss sounded a positive note after the Scuderia scored two victories in the triple header races of Texas, Mexico City and Sao Paulo. The Frenchman hailed the Scuderia for having secured the biggest points haul in the triple header of the United States, Mexico City and Sao Paulo Grands Prix.
"[The] weekend was a difficult one but looking at this triple-header as a whole, we are still the team that has scored the most points which is a good way to go into the final three races of the season. We will do our best to keep the fight open all the way to Abu Dhabi."
Ferrari currently sit second in the constructors' championship, 36 points behind the leading outfit McLaren. Although the Woking-based squad is poised to clinch its first teams' title since 1998, Ferrari still has a slight chance to win it for the first time in 2008.
Despite the situation in the teams' standings, Ferrari are believed to have abandoned the development of their current F1 car, the SF-24 to be fully concentrate on their next year's challenger. The Maranello-based outfit last brought a significant upgrade at the Singapore Grand Prix in the form of a modified front wing, and had been expected to introduce a new floor at Texas, but it might not arrive this year.
