Ferrari came into the 2024 season with a 95% revamped car but is going into the summer break nearly 100% shattered. From being the second-fastest team with each driver winning a race to getting leapfrogged by McLaren and Mercedes and dropping to fourth-fastest, the journey has been heartbreaking. Moreover, their Technical Director Enrico Cardile left the team mid-season to join Aston Martin. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has been forced to oversee the chassis department, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

At the Austrian GP, the bouncing issue, characteristic of early ground-effect cars, returned to haunt Ferrari. The upgraded floor of their SF24 wasn’t prepared to take on high-speed corners in Austria and Silverstone, costing approximately three-tenths of a second. “The Barcelona upgrade is progress on paper, and to a large extent, on the track,” Vasseur told AMuS.

“Unfortunately, the bouncing came back in some fast corners, but not in all of them,” he said post-British GP. Ferrari also couldn’t figure out the source cause of the trouble as he added, “Because it is not reproducible in the wind tunnel, it is difficult to find out what causes it.” Further explaining the challenges facing them ahead of the Hungarian GP, he noted, “The bouncing drives up the tire temperatures and that costs time in other places. That is why we compared two different underbody specifications in Silverstone.”

With McLaren only 7 points behind Ferrari in the constructors’ standings, “We now have until Budapest to find a solution,” Vasseur claimed, continuing, “At the beginning, you will have to decide to create a situation without bouncing and sacrifice a bit of lap time. But the aim must be to use an upgrade to sort out the parts that are responsible for the bouncing.” The sudden drop in performance has been baffling, and as per Funoanalistecnica, the Ferrari Team Principal was also summoned for a meeting with the Ferrari bosses. Though it affected their future driver Lewis Hamilton, the current pairing feels helpless.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc voice their frustrations to Frederic Vasseur

Charles Leclerc’s historic Monaco GP victory was the cherry on top of the cake that Carlos Sainz baked at the Australian GP. Having forced reigning champions Red Bull to look for answers, they became championship contenders. But the British GP weekend was an eye-opener for their technical department. Leclerc got knocked out in Q2 on Saturday only to perform worse and finish P14.

“It’s been a nightmare for three or four races, unfortunately,” he said post-race while mentioning, “The main problem is the pace we have been losing for a while.” In contrast, Sainz described his British GP as “one of the most solid races” of his career. But a driver’s best effort leading to a P5 shows the hole that Ferrari has dug for itself.

The Spaniard also said the team “has neither confidence nor pace”, echoing his Monegasque teammate. On the other hand, Mercedes’ pace was extraordinary, and McLaren was no less. With most major upgrades already used on the SF24, Ferrari only has minor developments to sustain them through 2024. Even the constructors’ championship might be out of the picture.

Unfortunately, Ferrari the Maranello outfit going from good to worse is all F1 has witnessed in the last decade. Now, hopes are that the progress won’t be as underwhelming when Hamilton shows up next year. What are your thoughts on Leclerc and Sainz voicing their concerns? Share in the comments below.