Ferrari Passes Crash Test That Red Bull Failed For 2024 Car

F1
Friday, 05 January 2024 at 00:00
charles leclerc ferrari car16

Scuderia Ferrari passed a crucial crash test during the winter break that Red Bull, with their RB20, couldn't on the first try.

Crash tests exist for a simple purpose, and that is to make the sport of F2 as safe as possible. These crash tests have been designed by FIA so that teams do not choose car speed over the safety of their drivers.

It is in every single team's interest to produce a car that is as light as possible because every gram of additional weight results in extra lap time lost to the rivals.

If a team builds too light a bodyshell that isn't able to absorb the damage properly as defined by guidelines, they won't pass the crash test and have to rebuild the bodyshell to make it stronger.

This is what happened to the Red Bull Racing team as its RB20 reportedly didn't absorb energy in the crash properly, which resulted in further damage to the car body.

On the other hand, it.motorsport.com reported that the Italian F1 team Scuderia Ferrari's SF24 passed its crash tests on the first try and apparently had no problem even with "the most extreme static roll-hoop" that FIA introduced for the season 2024.

Moreover, the news surfaced just recently after the mandatory shutdown imposed by FIA on 22nd September ended, but the Italian team reportedly passed the test already before Christmas.

Could Ferrari gain an advantage over Red Bull?

As mentioned previously, building the car as light as possible is in the interest of all F1 teams. Some experts suggest the teams might go extremely light with the first version of their bodyshell to push the limits a bit.

These teams would be essentially counting on the fact it does not have to pass the test for the first time. In that case, it wouldn't be too significant for Red Bull not to pass the test on the first try.

On the other hand, the team from Milton Keynes now has to spend more time and money in order to pass the test, which could give a small advantage to Ferrari.

Are you also excited to see how the new cars look? While Red Bull's car launch date wasn't announced yet, we already know Ferrari will reveal its car on the 13th of February.