Ferrari happy with current SF24 package, targets cutting down Red Bull’s advantage in coming months of F1 season

Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile claimed that he was happy with the current SF-24 package after two consecutive P3 finishes for the team in the first two races of the 2024 season.

The Italian team have been the closest challenger to Red Bull this season, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both securing a podium each behind the world champions. Leclerc started both races in Bahrain and Jeddah in P2 behind Max Verstappen and even would have challenged for pole position in the opening race if he had a cleaner lap.

Speaking with Formu1a.uno, Cardile pointed out that the Ferrari SF-24 has been performing as expected thus far.

"The first events confirmed a good correlation of our simulation tools, which is certainly positive. In short, we had no surprises: the limitations we had encountered in the factory during the winter were confirmed by the track."

Cardile mentioned that they now have a better understanding of their setup for this season and they have been addressing issues like tire management and race pace, which troubled them last year. With upgrades in place, they aim to narrow the gap to Red Bull.

He said:

"The first events confirmed which development direction to pursue, and also the priorities we had given ourselves."

"So the focus in the company is to quickly find performance in the tunnel and work hard to bring the updates to the track as soon as possible, exploiting, in the meantime, all the potential that our car can have," he added.

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Ferrari provides update on Carlos Sainz ahead of Australian GP

Ferrari F1 stated that they were hopeful that Carlos Sainz would be back driving alongside Charles Leclerc at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend after recovering from his appendix surgery.

In their statement, the Prancing Horses said (via F1.com):

"Carlos Sainz is expected to be back in the car, having had to miss Jeddah with appendicitis. He and team mate Charles Leclerc will most likely be fighting at the front of the field, as they have done in the first two rounds."

Ferrari would have Oliver Bearman on standby again if the Spaniard fails to recover from his surgery completely. The young British driver showcased his talent well in Jeddah, finishing P7 in the main race despite being put into a challenging situation due to Sainz's surgery before the FP3.