Ferrari has announced the name of its Formula 1 racing car for the upcoming season. Unlike in recent years, the Scuderia in 2024 will follow a simple yet easy-to-understand name.
Many Formula 1 teams number their cars year after year. That’s what Red Bull’s first F1 car was called RB1, the fifth RB5 and last year’s RB19. Apart from a small interruption in 2021, where last year’s RB16 car became not RB17, but RB16B, the Austrian racing team stuck to this nomenclature. This means: the RB20 will be added in 2024.
Mercedes also has a pretty simple convention when it comes to Formula 1 vehicles. When the German car manufacturer entered the premier class of motorsport with the works team in 2009, the first car was called W1 – W stands for wagon. W2 and many others followed – until the current W15 in 2024.
Things looked completely different at Ferrari in the past. Sebastian Vettel, the last German at the cult racing team, started his engagement with the Italians in 2015 in the SF15-T, a year later he sat in the SF-16-H, then the SF70H followed. Why? SF continued to stand for “Scuderia Ferrari”, but the 70 was a reference to the F1 company’s 70th anniversary.
Just two years later, the car was called the SF90 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Ferrari.
Formula 1: Ferrari makes it easier for the fans
In 2020 the racer was called the SF1000 because the Scuderia celebrated its 1000th race in the premier class of motorsport. The SF1000 was Vettel’s last Ferrari before the German moved on to Aston Martin (and ultimately ended his career at the end of 2022).
For Charles Leclerc and his now no longer new colleague Carlos Sainz, the SF21 without a hyphen followed in 2021, the F1-75 in 2022 to mark the 75th anniversary of the F1 company, and finally the SF-23 with a hyphen last year. So what would Ferrari come up with for 2024? The answer: Nothing special.
The new racing car for the 2024 Formula 1 season is simply called: SF-24! – The SF-24 will be presented on February 13th in Maranello.