The third and final day of 2023 Formula 1 pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir for two top teams such as Red Bull and Ferrari did not start in the best way possible: while in the first case, Sergio Perez’s car lost a sensor on track, which brought out the red flag for a short period of time as the sensor was recovered, the Prancing Horse also had to deal with some issues.
In the Maranello team’s case, during the first laps completed by Charles Leclerc, tv footage focused on a problem with the DRS, up to the point of forcing the Ferrari mechanics to change it.
Ferrari had started the third day of testing at Sakhir with a new, more loaded rear wing but equipped with a mono-pylon support which did not last long: Charles Leclerc was forced to return to the pits due to the failure of the mobile fap support on the right side. The solution was immediately disassembled and replaced with the medium load solution used during the first two days, which means Ferrari could not make any comparison and evaluations between the two rear wing specifications.
The Ferrari wing also had viewfinders that the technicians had put in to measure the flexes as speed and load varied, to compare the data. The experiment didn’t last very long due to the failure which shows how the teams reached the limit of materials to save weight. Not an ideal situation for the Italian side, given the fact that the mobile flap supports were less rounded and the mobile element had a greater chord with a more pronounced spoon.
In the next few hours, the Maranello team will analyze the problem in detail, while in the meantime tests in Sakhir continue regularly and can be followed in real time with our updates.
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Charles Leclerc will continue his work throughout the morning before handing over the program to his teammate Carlos Sainz starting at 1.15pm today. Once the Spaniard’s test is concluded, both Ferrari and all the other teams will temporarily leave Bahrain before returning to Sakhir next weekend, when the first Grand Prix of the 2023 F1 season will take place.
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