Ferrari now set to follow Lewis Hamilton signing by revealing big 2024 F1 change

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Ferrari are now ready to follow the news of the Scuderia signing Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to partner Charles Leclerc from 2025 with a big change to their 2024 F1 car.

The Scuderia shocked the Formula 1 world on Thursday when they confirmed that Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz next year. Ferrari had already tied Leclerc down with a new contract in January. But president John Elkann scrapped talks with Sainz to target Hamilton’s arrival.

Sainz and Leclerc both started 2024 by entering the final year of their existing contracts with Ferrari. Yet the latter is locked up until, at least, the end of 2025, and likely for longer. While Hamilton will switch from Mercedes after the 2024 season after breaking out of his contract.

Ferrari will reveal a big change to their new car after signing Hamilton

But Ferrari signing Hamilton from Mercedes, with whom the 39-year-old has raced since the 2013 F1 season, is not the only big change that the Maranello outfit are set to reveal. That is according to the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, which expects a big tweak for the SF-24.

It reports that Ferrari will also incorporate more yellow in the livery of their new car when it launches this month. The Scuderia have already teased their changes with yellow and white lines on a red wheel hub. Ferrari had black wheel hubs on the SF-23 for the 2023 F1 season.

Ferrari are likely to incorporate further yellow touches into the bodywork with the full livery of the SF-24. The beating heart of the latest Prancing Horse has also already fired into life at Maranello. Ferrari have assembled a full SF-24 at their factory and fired up their power unit.

When will Ferrari launch their 2024 Formula 1 car for Leclerc and Sainz?

Ferrari will take the covers off their SF-24 and launch the car that Leclerc and Sainz will drive on the afternoon of February 13. The Scuderia will also put their newest challenger through its paces at Fiorano that day. Ferrari will conduct a 15km (9.5m) shakedown under F1’s rules.

The sporting regulations stipulate the teams can only do a 15km (9.5m) shakedown, which is a maximum of five laps of Ferrari’s Fiorano test track. It is not yet clear which driver will take the wheel of the SF-24 for its first laps before pre-season testing in Bahrain later this month.

F1 will only hold one pre-season test in Sakhir between February 21 and 23 this year. Ferrari will then get to see how their SF-24 stacks up in anger to their rivals’ new cars at the Bahrain GP come March 2. Qualifying on March 1 will be the first true indicator of its single-lap pace.