Scuderia Ferrari’s competitor for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, the SF-24 seeks to build on the platform of its predecessor, the race-winning SF-23. In the hands of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, in their sixth and fourth seasons with the team respectively, the SF-24 has already surpassed the total number of wins, podiums and fastest laps achieved in half as many races as in 2023. Both Sainz and Leclerc have a race victory apiece, the Spaniard winning the Australian Grand Prix despite having only had surgery for appendicitis two weeks earlier, whilst Leclerc became the first Monegasque driver since Louis Chiron to win his home Grand Prix in Monaco. The SF-24 has also accommodated the debut and first competitive points reserve driver Oliver Bearman as the replacement for Carlos Sainz during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix while the Spaniard underwent treatment.
The 70th single seater constructed by Ferrari for use in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the SF-24 is the third car of the new ground effect generation and, whilst an evolution of the 2023 car, looks aesthetically very different to its predecessor. Once again, the SF-24 shares the same shade of red as the World Endurance Championship competing 499P, again this year with a matte finish on the Formula 1 car. Following a positive reception to the Las Vegas livery last November, white makes a return to the SF-24's livery, alongside yellow which was last seen in the special 'yellow-touched' livery in Monza in 2022. Whilst it's not the first time that a Ferrari Formula 1 car has featured yellow, the yellow longitudinal stripes have not been seen since 1968, while this year, for the very first time, it is paired with white. There is therefore less black on the car than in previous years, now restricted to the floor, the bargeboards, part of the halo and other small areas. Red wheel covers also debut, featuring a double white and yellow stripe, and these colours also feature on the race numbers on the body and nose. The design group, led by Enrico Cardile, aimed to build upon the team's positive end to the 2023 season, giving Leclerc and Sainz a car that is easy to drive and that reacts predictably. The goal is to allow them to make the most of the power unit’s potential, combined with their undoubted skill behind the wheel, during Formula 1's busiest season ever, with no fewer than 24 races.
This fine 1:18 scale model is of the Ferrari SF-24 as raced to a 1-2 victory by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit on the 24th of March 2024. Despite having surgery for appendicitis and missing the race in Saudi Arabia just two weeks prior, Sainz returned to his SF-24 and immediately challenged championship-leader Verstappen for pole, narrowly losing out by just 0.27 seconds. Leclerc would qualify fifth, a further 0.25 seconds back, behind the other Red Bull of Sergio Pérez and Lando Norris’ McLaren.
Verstappen held the lead from Sainz off the line, whilst Norris and Leclerc slipped past Pérez into the first corner. After just one full lap, Sainz used his DRS effectively to close in on Verstappen and made his move between Turns 9 and 10, taking advantage as the Dutchman reported braking issues. The Red Bull soon retired due to brake failure, giving Sainz a golden opportunity to convert his lead into victory. By Lap 10, he had extended the gap to three seconds, whilst Leclerc pitted from third to switch to the hard compound tyres. On Lap 15, Norris pitted from second, only to find himself re-joining in fifth position having been undercut by Leclerc and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri through the pit stop phase. Sainz would make his stop a lap later, emerging behind only Fernando Alonso, and would regain the lead when Alonso pitted shortly afterwards, benefitting from a short Virtual Safety Car period triggered by the retiring Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. This soon cleared, leaving Sainz to continue his charge from Leclerc, Piastri, Norris and Alonso. As the race reached half distance, McLaren swapped over their cars, allowing Norris to increase the pressure on Leclerc, who soon reported his tyres were struggling. The Monegasque driver soon pitted for fresh hard tyres on Lap 35, re-emerging in fourth ahead of Pérez and Alonso. This triggered a wave of responses and, as the final stops filtered through, Sainz maintained his lead to Leclerc by around five seconds, with Norris four seconds further back in third and a significant gap to Piastri beyond him. Despite a late Virtual Safety Car, deployed after a dramatic crash involving the Mercedes of George Russell, Sainz took the chequered flag ahead of Leclerc for a momentous Ferrari 1-2 result, the first for the team since the opening race of the 2022 season. The win for Sainz was his third career win, and his first when not starting from pole position. It extended Ferrari’s record at the most successful team at Albert Park, sealing their tenth victory at the circuit.