The Ferrari tweaks that helped Leclerc turn the tables on McLaren

Charles Leclerc’s brilliant tyre management was critical to his Italian Grand Prix victory for Ferrari.

But on a day when rival McLaren was left ruing the missed opportunity it had to secure a 1-2 finish, differences in car performance also played a big part in what happened.

McLaren’s nervousness about being able to eke out a one-stop with its MCL38 was in contrast to a confidence Ferrari had in its upgraded SF-24 lasting the distance.

And, off the back of a run of events where Ferrari had been struggling with its floor, it looks to have rediscovered some belief in its package as a series of developments – both small and big – pulled things together.

Some of the changes made for Monza were track-specific, but others seem clearly a remedy for inefficiencies that its car had shown since it first hit trouble with its floor thanks to its Spanish GP upgrade.

While some tweaks may even seem inconsequential, it is important to understand that teams are now having to scrape the barrel when it comes to improvements – so every small gain matters.

In fact, some of the smaller-detail changes are actually more important, as they help optimise the package as a whole and unlock the latent performance that the aforementioned alterations didn’t fully exploit on their own.

Ferrari SF-24 mirror stalk and camera housing comparison

Photo by: Uncredited

A seemingly benign change was the position of the camera housings on the side of the nose. However, due to their size and location, they do have a substantial influence on the airflow passing by. This results in them being able to work in conjunction with the suspension fairings thereafter to improve flow downstream.

In this instance, Ferrari moved the camera housings further down the body of the nose, so they are less in line with the upper suspension elements (green arrow, old inset for comparison).

Another small tweak made to the SF-24 was the shape and length of the outboard mirror stalk.

This is now a very slender component which, rather than acting as a supportive surface to adjust the airflow over the upper surface of the sidepod, now has a much more minimal effect.

The sidepod itself has also been optimised, with changes made to the bodywork to increase the size of the undercut and adjust the height and depth of the beltline thereafter.

However, the biggest change made to the car has to be the floor, as the team has addressed a number of different aspects to create a wider operating window and improve consistency across a range of conditions.

These include a change to the floor fence distribution and design across their length, which has also required the front edge of the floor to be adjusted as a consequence.

The edge wing’s forward section has also been adjusted slightly in terms of camber to account for a cutout now being present in the midsection (red arrow, main image).

Meanwhile, the metal support brackets between the edge wing and edge of the floor have also been revised, not only in position but also in terms of some of their features, perhaps as a means to offer more flexion under certain conditions.

Ferrari SF-24 diffuser

Photo by: Uncredited

All of these alterations would be for nought though if the diffuser was unable to leverage them. So it is no surprise that further changes have been made here, with the boat tail section visibly different to the previous design.

It now features a triangulated section in the lowermost part of the floor, before a more curvaceous portion takes over as the surface expands out laterally, of which many surfaces have also been reprofiled.

Ferrari SF-24 rear wing, Italian GP

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Ferrari SF-24 rear wing, Belgian GP

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Ferrari also opted to work on some circuit-specific updates for the Italian Grand Prix, including a new rear wing, which now sits within the same family architecture as its 2024 wings, rather than simply going back to its previous year’s solution.

The new wing utilises the same semi-detached tip section as the wing used throughout this season and can be seen on what it used at Spa (right), although the new version has a more rounded profile to the tip section.

Meanwhile, the team also revised the design of the mainplane and upper flap to better optimise them for Monza’s characteristics. This includes a much flatter mainplane, whilst both elements take up much less space in the allowable box region.