F1 pundit offers worrying Ferrari news for Hamilton

Formula 1 journalist Craig Scarborough has warned that Ferrari's 2024 challenger looks very similar to last year's less than successful edition, calling it a '2023 car'.

The Scuderia launched their new machine this week ahead of next week's start of pre-season testing in Bahrain, the first chance fans will get to judge how the grid could shake out.

Named the SF24, it's the challenger that the team hope can drag them into contention for the world championship, or at least fight for more race wins than the single one they managed in 2023.

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With Red Bull so dominant last season, it's going to be difficult for any team to make a gain large enough to challenge for the constructors' title, but both Mercedes and Ferrari have gone down a radical route to ensure their2023 performance is bettered.

Ferrari disappointment ahead of new season

However, Scarborough believes that the team have not gone far enough, citing that he is disappointed with the new car.

Speaking via Peter Windsor's YouTube channel, he said that the team don't look capable of challenging Red Bull, in some bad news for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is scheduled to join the Maranello outfit at the start of 2025.

“It’s a radical evolution from what they had last year, but the car they’ve produced this year looks to me like a 2023 car," Scarborough said.

“It just doesn’t look like they’ve taken things to the extremes that everyone else is going, so my first guess is that this maybe isn’t the step that Ferrari were looking for.

“Having said that, they ended last year in a very good position. They found a lot with tyre management and getting the car to be balanced and the things that we can’t tell from renders and laps at Fiorano is what’s actually happening with the car, particularly with the floor, which is the most important thing.

“We simply can’t judge that at this stage, but I am slightly disappointed with what we saw on the SF-24.”

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