According to recent news reported by the Italian media, the 2023 Scuderia Ferrari car will hit the track for the pre-season testing session at the Bahrain International Circuit with two to three kilograms less than its predecessor, the F1-75 car.
Following the introduction of the new rules and technical regulations in the start of the previous championship, the topic of car weight became a huge problem for most of the teams last year. The only car which was initially able to run with a minimum limit was the Alfa Romeo C42 and this explains the strong start of the 2022 F1 campaign for the Swiss team, which then gradually lost ground as its rivals also reduced the weight of their challengers.
The previous season became a true battle of diets for all teams and ahead of the new F1 campaign, Scuderia Ferrari have reportedly made a solid step further in this area.
As reported by Formu1a.uno, the 2023 Formula 1 Ferrari car, which for now is known only by its code name ‘675’, will be between two and three kilograms lighter than the weight of the 2022 F1 challenger, the F1-75. This should bring a direct improvement of about a tenth of a second per lap, but should also help the Italian side in terms of tyre management, given the fact that the balance of the car can be improved.
In two weeks’ time, there will be an F1 Commission meeting which should lead to a final decision regarding the 798kg minimum weight limit for the 2023 F1 cars, excluding fuel and whether this value will be changed for the new championship, while the power unit minimum weight could drop one kg to 150.
It is clear that if we look back on the previous season, it was Red Bull who won the development battle as the championship progressed, with the RB18 becoming the fastest car on the grid, despite the fact that the F1-75 had an impressive pace in the early stages of the season.
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As explained by ex-Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, the Austrian side was able to gain significant pace just by making the car lighter, while Ferrari tried to develop the F1-75 in terms of aerodynamics in the first part of the year, but the former Ferrari team principal pointed out that aero improvements are much more difficult to find. Of course, Ferrari also had to accept blame for their 2022 title challenge going so terribly wrong and it is no surprise that Mattia Binotto left the Maranello team, being replaced by Frederic Vasseur at the end of the previous campaign. The Italian side is now confident that a lighter 2023 single-seater, combined with an improved power unit reliability, will allow Ferrari to challenge Red Bull and Mercedes in 2023.
In the hope that the Scuderia Ferrari will be able to replicate the strong start of the 2022 F1 season, another attempt at ending their title-less run, which stretches all the way back to the 2008 season, awaits.
