One F1 team not ‘satisfied’ with progress their 2024 car has made in the simulator this winter

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There’s already some good for Ferrari fans ahead of the 2024 season with their car looking significantly quicker on the simulator than last year.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be hoping the team can deliver the upgrades necessary to finally challenge Red Bull.

A report from Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport has shared what they’ve heard about the team’s record testing behind the scenes and although it sounds good, the team aren’t happy.

Team principal Frederic Vasseur has plenty of credit in the bank right now despite Ferrari only winning one race last season.

That was a better tally than Mercedes although their closest rivals pipped them to second place in the Constructors’ Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Every team is hoping to catch up to Red Bull and they’re going to have their work cut out as Adrian Newey has been working on this year’s car for some time.

They were so far ahead of the rest of the field that they stopped development of the 2023 car very early.

However, Ferrari will be encouraged by what they’ve seen on the simulator ahead of the 2024 season but know it’s not enough yet.

It’s now up to Leclerc and Sainz to see if that initial promise can be turned into improved results.

Ferrari’s 2024 car is seven-tenths faster on the simulator

The report from Gazzetta dello Sport suggests that Ferrari have already gained seven-tenths on average during their simulator laps.

However, this is reported to be ‘nothing sensational’ and they believe other teams have already improved by half a second.

They also go on to say that Ferrari aren’t ‘satisfied’ with this upgrade and they still expect Red Bull to have the fastest car.

Charles Leclerc is one of the highest-rated drivers on the grid but his inability to convert pole positions into race wins last year was more down to the car rather than the driver.

Guenther Steiner has said that he would like to see him succeed Max Verstappen as world champion one day, but that will be easier said than done.

Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari future appears to hang in the balance but a faster car this year could help him deliver results that convince the team to stick by him.

Ferrari will hope the pace their 2024 car has shown in the simulator has shown they’re on the right path heading into next season.

They’ll now be praying that Red Bull haven’t made too many strides forward so that they can add to their solitary race win from last season.