F1 Team Cars 2024 Features
The vehicles that will compete in the championship were introduced with the launches held before the start of the Formula 1 Championship. Let’s take a closer look at which vehicles will compete in the 75th Formula 1 World Championship and their technical specifications.
Red Bull / RB20
Red Bull, both the drivers’ and brands’ champion of the last two seasons, will participate in the championship with its new F1 car RB20. The vehicle, which has some sponsor changes in terms of appearance compared to last year’s vehicle, also has a few technical changes.
The RB20’s color scheme is largely the same as last year’s design. Visually, only some sponsors appear to have changed. From a technical perspective, significant changes have been made to the vehicle. The first noticeable change in the vehicle is that the sidepod entrance has been reduced significantly and the cut under the sidepod has been further deepened. At the same time, the design change on the engine cover attracts attention at first glance. With these lines, RB20 has much more aggressive and sharp lines compared to RB19. When we look at the engine features, we see that RBPTH001, produced by Honda and Red Bull Powertrains, is used in the RB20.
Mercedes/W15
Unable to perform as expected in 2023, Mercedes could not fight for the championship with the W14 and left a winless year behind. That’s why W15 is very important for Mercedes. Visually, the W15 has a largely black design, but Mercedes’ iconic silver color has also found its place in the design.
This year, W15 has shed its attitude of ignoring the trends of previous years. Taking a different approach by taking great lessons from the B-Spec configuration of the W14, Mercedes has made many changes in the W15. The cockpit was positioned closer to the front and front axle and moved 100 mm back compared to the old design. This automatically caused some changes to the chassis and fuel tank. The W15 used a P-shaped sidepod inlet extending forward at the bottom section, and since it was extended rearward to reach the downward sloping section at the rear of the body, a larger area was provided at the bottom for air to pass to the rear of the vehicle.
Ferrari/SF-24
Ferrari has changed many things under the bodywork in the SF-24, which will compete in the 2024 season, especially with a longer chassis and a shorter transmission to prevent tire wear and find better balance. The SF-24 is a completely new F1 car, the result of a project that started from scratch. Although the cockpit position has remained unchanged, the bodywork has been completely redesigned. The chassis is approximately 50 mm longer and has grown behind the driver’s shoulders. The engine and transmission were moved further back to provide better balance.
McLaren/MCL38
The MCL38, which will compete in the 2024 season, has further improved the main weaknesses of the previous year’s vehicle, such as aerodynamic efficiency, mechanical grip in low-speed corners and the interaction of the vehicle with the tires. McLaren, which did not meet expectations due to being one of the slowest cars on the grid in the 2023 season, aims to have a much better season with the changes it made in MCL38.
Aston Martin / AMR24
The AMR24 is a significantly revised version of last year’s chassis. The three most noticeable areas of the vehicle are the nose, radiator inlet / sidepod and rear suspension. Apart from these, the lower part has also been largely redesigned. The main line at the tip of the fuselage is connected to the spacer of the wing. The small gap between these two areas caused the air flow towards the bottom of the vehicle to encounter fewer obstacles. The shorter nose section has been made heavier to pass the crash test.
Alpine / A524
The A524, which is a completely new vehicle, has moved the front part of the sidepods forward from the upper part. Adopting a wide but shallow air intake, this design not only improves the air quality reaching the internal components but also provides much more design freedom for the lower part of the sidepod. By pulling the air intake towards where it meets the chassis, it created an L-shaped design, providing more cooling and creating an alternative line for the lower section of the sidepod. It has a similar appearance to the RB19, with changes made to the engine cover and rack-like body and the cooling gill arrangement surrounding it.
Williams/FW46
For the 2024 season, the FW46 was introduced with its new look. The tip of the vehicle, which has a wider and flatter nose, has a narrower and darker appearance compared to its previous model. The front wing continued to be developed throughout 2023. The non-moving section next to the nose was narrowed with these improvements and the moving wings were further expanded. Sidepod design continues in the Red Bull line, with the rest of the FW46’s sidepod design optimized to the new design, including the change in bodywork shape along the wing.
Visa Cash App RB Honda / VCARB 01
Returning to its old style, VCARB 01 will participate in the races with its dark blue and red accented appearance. When examined from a technical perspective, it seems that it is based on the Red Bull RB19. One of the impressive elements of the VCARB 01, whose suspension was sourced from Milton Keynes, is the body part, which has become thinner than last season and adheres to the engine and power unit components.
Kick Sauber / C44
The former Alfa Romeo F1 team will race as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber both this season and next season. The team’s racing vehicle is the C44. Launched in a fluo green and black color scheme, the C44 features aggressively redesigned aerodynamics. In order to create an advantage in terms of aerodynamics, the C44 has switched to a drawbar front suspension, thus greatly reducing the natural tendency to dive during braking.
Haas/VF-24
VF-24, which has almost no change in its color scheme compared to last year, will compete in black, white and red colors this season. In order to save weight, the white paint on the front was removed, giving the VF-24 a blacker appearance than its predecessor.
F1 Car Cost
Although their lifespan is not very long, the construction of F1 cars requires a lot of effort and fine workmanship. Of course, owning these cars, which consist of thousands of carefully designed parts, is not cheap. If you want to have a good car and your goal is the championship, you need to have a budget of 150 – 200 million dollars. When you take into account the cost of at least 135 liters of gasoline burned by the car in a race, you have to pay half a million for gasoline in each race period.