Explained: The seven key Ferrari aero upgrades

The McLaren boss was spotted in the pitlane getting a close-up of the new Ferrari upgrades at Imola.

The seven aerodynamic updates for the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend may have caused Red Bull to be “worried”, too.

Crash.net were able to get an intriguing view of the upgraded SF-24 for the Italian manufacturer’s home race.

The photos above and below are exclusive images that we took from the pitlane.

Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz explained: “They have got a very nice extended front wing flap, which actually extends beyond the rear line of the front wing end plate.

“Recognise the sidepod? It’s pretty much a copy of the Red Bull sidepod, with the overbite.

“There’s no shame in that. McLaren have, more or less, copied the Red Bull sidepod. And now Ferrari have, as well.

“There is a winglet either side of the halo.

“A new engine cover, which optimises the air flow from the new sidepod shape, over the engine cover and to the back.

“The really significant bits, I think, are the rear suspension, the rear wing, and the diffuser.

“To their credit, Ferrari allow us quite close with no mechanics blocking.

“They think this diffuser, with improved air flow through this diffuser, this is where most of the downforce is added.

“They think this will get them on par with McLaren, who were quicker than Ferrari at the last race, and much closer to Red Bull.

“It caught the McLaren boss’ eye and I think Red Bull might be worried about this, as well.”

Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, was among several interested observers to check out the Ferrari before it took to the track on Friday.

Overbite instead of an underbite

The Ferrari radiator inlet has an overbite instead of an underbite, mirroring the Red Bull design.

Jock Clear, the Ferrari engineer, was asked by media, including Crash.net, if this development began before or after seeing the Red Bull.

"Honestly, I can't answer that question not being in aero not being involved in the aero very early on," he said. 

"All I would say is that the the physics of airflow is the same for all teams if you see what I mean. 

"So if you give teams long enough no no if you give teams any time if you continually develop cars they will generally evolve to a very similar solution because we're not working with different physics. 

"So it's probably not a coincidence it's a fact that you know when we're developing cars which are nowadays obviously relatively tight in terms of regulation you know there's a lot less freedom than they used to be so you're going down a much narrower path than you were 15, 20 years ago. 

"If you're on a narrow path people are going to arrive at very similar solutions."

Engineer Clear expanded on the significant updates to the SF-24.

"Clearly, there are things that we can do to help the weaknesses of the car and I think that's more of a setup thing," he said. 

"So this development is carrying on an organic growth. It's just more chocolatey with a bit more flavour. 

"The setup is what we're probably still working on. We have some developments in that area as well. 

"So I think we're looking to maybe move the setup around a bit to extract more from the car, and to really target those weaknesses that we've identified in the first six races. 

"But I think those two development paths carry on in parallel throughout the year. You're always looking to get more out of the tyre contact patch, but on an aerodynamic side you're always going to get more out of the tyre contact patch if you just give it more vertical load. 

"We thought we brought a more chunky aero package but we're also always working on the setup. and I think there are things we've found in the last couple of races, or there are things we've identified in the last couple of races, that I think we can we can attack here."