It has been a challenging week for the Scuderia Ferrari following the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona last weekend. It was a three-day period during which the Prancing Horse arrived with confidence, aiming to perform well and regain the position as the second force on the field, behind Red Bull. This confidence was based on the expectations related to the introduction of the first developments of the year on the SF-23, which, according to the data, should have resulted in a significant leap forward in performance and, above all, in tire management – a weak point for the Maranello team.
However, these expectations were not met during the Barcelona weekend, as the SF-23 cars never shone, and the chronic tire management issues resurfaced during the race (with both cars and all tire compounds). These factors significantly influenced the outcome of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. At the checkered flag, Carlos Sainz finished in fifth position, while Charles Leclerc finished in eleventh, with a gap of over 45 seconds from Red Bull and a similarly important gap from Mercedes.
This stage, as mentioned, marked the failure of the ‘B’ version of the SF-23, with the causes identified in a loss of data correlation between simulations and the track. Clearly, this is a significant problem that, in addition to causing the disappointment in Catalonia, is likely to have further repercussions on the remainder of the 2023 Formula 1 season due to the extended time required to resolve these issues.
Nevertheless, despite the current difficult moment, all the members of the Scuderia are not inclined to throw in the towel. On the contrary, they are more determined than ever to make the best of the package at their disposal and extract the maximum from each race on the calendar. For this reason, intensive work is underway in Maranello to prepare for the overseas Canadian Grand Prix, both through technical briefings to determine the optimal setup for the SF-23 and with the drivers taking turns in the simulator.
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In the last two days, Charles Leclerc was present at the Ferrari Racing Division (Gestione Sportiva) and, through a post on his Instagram profile, he highlighted the activities carried out in Maranello and his willingness to continue working to overcome this challenging present as soon as possible (a message to silence any controversy or speculation about the future in this delicate moment of his adventure in red?). Moreover, the Monegasque driver did not miss the opportunity to express his gratitude to the numerous fans who always eagerly wait for hours outside the Maranello factory for a greeting or a photo – an extremely positive factor in this delicate phase of the championship.
“Two days of hard work in the simulator. It is always special to have so much support in Maranello. Let’s keep pushing.”
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