26-year-old could be driving more ‘extreme’ car in Imola with major upgrade planned

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Ferrari could deliver an ‘extreme’ upgrade to their SF-24 by the seventh race of the season in Imola for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

It’s been a positive start to the 2024 season for Frederic Vasseur’s team as they’ve established themselves as the second-best team on the grid.

However, a report from Formu1a.uno believes that the first major upgrade of the year is only a couple of months away for the Scuderia.

Ferrari want ‘extreme’ upgrade for SF-24 ready by Imola

While Red Bull went in a new direction with their 2024 car despite their incredible results last year, Ferrari took several important steps forward over the winter.

They looked ‘slightly behind the curve’ at one point during testing but topped the time sheets on days two and three in Bahrain.

So much so, that Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda suggested the car looked a lot of fun to drive.

Results have been positive so far with Carlos Sainz and the 26-year-old Charles Leclerc both recording podium finishes.

They have had setbacks though and Leclerc will be disappointed with the brake issues that hampered his race in Bahrain.

Ferrari seem to know what direction they want to go in with the SF-24 and have a big upgrade planned for Imola.

Work is already underway to the point that they’re already testing the new version in the wind tunnel.

Ferrari already have two upgrades planned for the 2024 car

The report from Formu1a.uno suggests that the ‘extreme’ upgrade that could arrive in time for Imola is mainly concentrating on the aerodynamics of the car.

Formu1a.uno believe that a ‘good part of the body’ and a new floor will be the key component of the update.

However, they suggest that ‘major accelerations’ could potentially see Leclerc and Sainz given the new car in Miami.

Minor improvements are expected on the car in April, but ‘finding balance and stable load in high speeds’ was the main focus of Ferrari’s engineers in recent weeks.

Ferrari will hope the ‘more aggressive’ upgrade they want to bring to the SF-24 in Imola can close the gap to Sergio Perez if not Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull drivers might have the same cars but drive them to different degrees of competence.

It would have to be a McLaren-2023 level of upgrade to catch the Dutchman, but they will have growing confidence they can overtake Perez as the season goes on.