FERRARI are ready to take F1 by storm after revealing their ‘completely redesigned’ new engine for the 2024 season.
Just weeks after Lewis Hamilton, 39, dropped the sudden bombshell that he would be moving to Ferrari in 2025, the Scuderia team have turned heads again with their flashy new engine.
Charles Leclerc, 26, and Carlos Sainz, 29, uncovered the stunning SF-24 at Ferrari’s factory in Maranello on Tuesday.
This year will be Leclerc and Sainz’s last season racing together as Hamilton is all set to make the astonishing switch from Mercedes to Ferrari in 2025, after triggering a secret contract clause.
There is hope among the Prancing Horse ranks that with their new engine they can take on last year’s championship winners, Christian Horner‘s Red Bull.
Their rivals were shaken to the core by the recent allegations against boss, Horner, who was accused of engaging in ‘innapropriate behaviour’ towards a female staffer.
Ferrari revealed that every aspect of their new car ‘breaks with the tradition’ of the machinery they used in the past two seasons.
Engineer Enrico Cardile said: “Every area of the car has been redesigned.”
Leclerc himself is buzzing about the teams renewed chances in the race for the championship.
He said: “I like the look of the car a lot. This season the aim is to be front runners all the time.”
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With regard to the new season, the Italian said: “To win the championship, this is the only target I have.
“I’m only happy when I win, second place is not my target.
“You need to give yourself realistic targets as well, as much as we are always optimistic and try to do the best job possible.
“We all want to win but looking at where we are starting from from last year, Red Bull had a big advantage.
“So now we need to close the gap as much as possible.
“So we will do absolutely everything to try and, and do the step that, that is our goal in order to challenge.”
Team boss Fred Vasseur, a vital force in persuading Hamilton to jump ship, agreed with Leclerc and said: “This year, we must start off where we left off at the end of last season.
“When we were consistent front runners, with a view to constantly improving in all areas.
“The longest ever Formula 1 season awaits us.
“Charles, Carlos and I all agree, we must be more clinical and effective in how we manage the races, making bold choices, in order to get the best possible result at every Grand Prix.”
Every aspect of the team looks good to take on Red Bull after Leclerc revealed he had a ‘special bond’ with Sainz, even admitting he sees his team-mate more than his family.
He said: “We have a very special relationship. We spend so much time.
“I mean, I see Carlos more than my own family because we’ve got 24 races now.”
That bond is soon to be broken as Hamilton is welcomed into the Ferrari fold in his hunt for an eighth championship win.
At 39, the clock is ticking for the Brit, who seeks to go one up on Michael Schumacher’s seven championship wins.
According to former F1 star Damon Hill, the fact that Hamilton has put his faith in Ferrari is a clear signal that he rates the team’s chances.
On Sky Sports, Hill said: “Lewis has taken command of his career and his direction.
“It’s not like Mercedes have said to him, ‘Oh, we’ve signed someone else’, which is what happened with me.
“I think that, [with] this decision, we know it’s a given [regarding] the Ferrari benefits of the brand – the romance and the history and all of that.
“But I think there’s more to this, which is [that] I thought there was evidence that Ferrari were starting to solidify as a competitive package.
“They were starting to put together the components and they were starting to get results.
“And I think if you had a choice between Mercedes giving you the same equipment and Ferrari, I’d rather go to Ferrari and try something different.”
