Ferrari brought a huge upgrade package to the Imola GP. The upgrade was big and changed the car so much that the SF24 with the upgrade package was nicknamed SF24 Evo by some, while others called it the SF24 2.0. While these upgrades did help Ferrari massively in Monaco, the Canadian GP was a big bummer for the Scuderia. Frederic Vasseur and Co. now push for new upgrades at the Spanish GP before the start of the triple header.

Charles Leclerc won the Monaco GP with Carlos Sainz securing a double podium for Ferrari. Coming into Canada, Tifosi’s expectations were high as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is all about riding the kerbs and traction out of corners. Unfortunately, both drivers were eliminated in Q2 and started the race outside the Top 10. Charles Leclerc then had a power unit issue, followed by a strategy disaster, and eventually retired from the race. Teammate Sainz followed the Monegasque, spun the car in the final quarter of the race, and retired as well.

With the Spanish GP up next, Ferrari must be wanting to make amends for what happened in Canada. The Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya used to be the circuit for F1 testing as it had a great mix of fast, medium, and slow-speed corners combined with a long main straight. Upgrades brought by Ferrari to Imola were one of the three major packages expected this year. The second major package was expected for Silverstone.

According to Formu1a.uno, Rosario Giuliana reports that Ferrari will be rushing a part of the Silverstone upgrades to arrive in time for the Spanish GP. It’ll be a fight against time as Ferrari expects to bring the upgrade for both the cars. The upgrade is expected to add 10 load points to the SF24 and improve its efficiency. Around 2 tenths of performance gain between load and efficiency is expected from these upgrades at a track like Catalunya. 

The Spanish GP will be a good test of these upgrades along with the ones brought to Imola. Monaco is a track that doesn’t tell much about upgrades and the Canadian GP with all the wet running would’ve minimal data about the dry pace. However, Charles Leclerc was positive about the SF24 Evo despite the struggles during the Main Race in Canada.

Charles Leclerc defends Ferrari’s Canadian GP disaster

Ferrari was nowhere near the front running pace throughout the weekend in Canada. Even during the practice sessions, the Scuderia looked slow and, of course, the qualifying and race pace was a disaster. Yet, Charles Leclerc suggests that his race pace would’ve been fine had he not had the power unit issue. He explained how the car actually felt good in the corners and we saw the Monegasque running ahead of Verstappen for a few laps with a similar pace before being shown the blue flag and being lapped.

Charles Leclerc said, “We reset the car during the pit stop and magically it was better, but we don’t know why the torque coming out of corners was inconsistent, so it was impossible to drive.” Yet, he looked at the positives and added, “We shouldn’t get depressed about these problems and today’s pace, just as we shouldn’t get excited about the victory in Monaco. We need to understand the problems we had yesterday, but today the car was strong in the corners. We were just missing 1 and a half seconds on the straight.”

Do you think the Ferrari upgrades will arrive in time for the Spanish GP?