Ferrari’s engine department braces for a tough 2024, facing stringent tests despite a freeze on V6 hybrid regulations, as revealed by Enrico Gualtieri.
Ferrari’s engine department will face numerous challenges in 2024, despite regulations freezing the V6 hybrids.
Interview with Enrico Gualtieri, head of Scuderia’s engine department.
What are the challenges for engine engineers in 2024?
“There are two major challenges. The first is the upcoming season, which will be the most difficult and longest in history. This will require the highest level of focus on what we are preparing, managing, and the engine’s track preparation. Test bench usage is regulated, and we won’t have much time to react in case of problems. The other significant challenges lie in working on the future 2026 engine. We will increasingly focus on this to ensure the schedule goes as planned.”
With engine development frozen, what areas did you focus on this winter?
“As usual during the winter, and even before, we prioritized addressing last season’s open issues. We worked on reliability, in terms of preparation and optimization of engine use. The importance of details in managing our product will be crucial, and we reviewed all engine processes, from design to preparation, assembly procedures, and management in a racing environment.”
Each driver has a quota of four engines, but there are more races. How challenging will it be this season to maintain a high performance level?
“As an engine group, our main goal is to deliver the highest level of engine performance in all track conditions to maximize its potential. That’s our aim, but with the increasing number of races, it becomes more and more difficult. The effort required for this is very significant and growing. People often don’t realize how extreme these engines are and how important the components are in their use and preparation. It’s a team effort involving other departments: quality, supply chain, everyone works to be ready and to maximize engine exploitation.”
Four engines, 24 races. It’s an incredible challenge, but Scuderia Ferrari can count on external support.
“The level of engine complexity is so high that it’s impossible to do everything alone. We rely on external collaborations, suppliers, and partners to help us with the work. Some have been with us since the start of the regulations in 2014, others have joined us. It’s not just about design but also the engine’s entire lifecycle. We aim to control what the engine does through data analysis and behavior, and for example, our partner Shell helps us in this aspect.”
Ferrari 2024 Engine Challenges. Ferrari 2024 Engine Challenges
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