Scuderia Ferrari has long been projected towards the 2023 Formula 1 season. As confirmed several times by team principal Mattia Binotto, the development of the F1-75 was stopped well in advance of Red Bull and Mercedes. This decision not to continue developing the 2022 car can be mainly attributed to two factors.
The men from Maranello assessed the RB18 and understood that it was impossible to challenge the Austrian side this season. Secondly, the technical area may have learned during the season that the F1-75, thanks to its particular aerodynamic appearance, did not have large margins of development. The aforementioned hypotheses may have convinced the Maranello technicians to turn their attention without regrets towards the 675 project near the summer break.
During the season that has just ended, several teams have modified the basic design lines towards a concept more similar to the undisputed “queen” of the 2022 Formula 1 world championship: the Red Bull RB18 designed by Adrian Newey. The key areas of the 2022 ground-effect car, sidepods and floor, have in fact proven to be the best based also on the updates seen during the year.
The research focuses on the interaction of the flows between the surface of the single-seater and the underbody of the car, a key element in increasing performance. Being able to use setups that guarantee a lower ride height, consequently, optimizes the efficiency of the floor.
The Prancing Horse has tried to direct the development of the F1-75 towards the search for aerodynamic efficiency, which is essential to be able to give the red car greater top speed. The low drag of the RB18 was appreciated throughout the season, an enormous advantage especially with the activation of the DRS.
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Ferrari has tried to limit this gap with sometimes extreme set-ups, good for one lap, but inevitably inadequate for the race pace. Just think of the Monza stage where Red Bull could allow itself the luxury of using a more loaded setup than the Maranello team, a winning move over the 300 km distance in the race.
On the sidelines of the reasoning carried out, what can we expect from the 675 project? The F1-75 had a great basis at the start, net of the issues relating to porpoising, a factor that made it possible to outperform the competition in the early stages of the season.
However, the progressive weight reduction of the RB18, the updates and the TD039 directive have highlighted the superiority of the Austrian car. At this point other questions arise spontaneously: will the F1-75 car, such as the SF70H was for the SF71H, be the starting point for next year’s single-seater? And also, can the premature stop on the development of this season’s car in fact hide a review of the aerodynamic concept?
Ferrari 675: Did Ferrari start from a blank sheet?
The decision not to end the updates, made much earlier than the competition, could also be understood as a rejection of the long-term design philosophy. In essence an aerodynamic concept from which the maximum potential has been extracted. Looking at the development plan over the course of the season, in fact, the only package consisting of updates has been introduced in Spain.
Furthermore, the technical difficulties that occurred with the introduction of the new floor in France essentially blocked the growth of the car. From this perspective, it could be legitimate to think that the 675 project will represent a clear cut compared to the 2022 Ferrari challenger.
According to this scenario, the team led by Enrico Cardile may have exploited this development freeze to devote most of their efforts to analyzing and simulating the advantages of the Red Bull aerodynamic shape. The possible convergence of the red car towards these aerodynamic designs, therefore, is not a hypothesis that should be completely discarded, according to Roberto Cecere for funoanalisitecnica.com.
From the historic Italian team, as usually happens, not much information has been leaked. The Ferrari team principal, through a recent interview, provided some high-level details regarding the 2023 project:
“The car will undoubtedly be different from the current one, but we won’t overturn the basic concepts of the F1-75, it won’t resemble a Red Bull, much less a Mercedes. However, we will have to fear both because they will undoubtedly be very strong”.
Comments, those made by Mattia Binotto, which make the imagination go wild in the near future, nourishing the hopes and dreams of the Ferrari fans by embracing a clear direction: in 2023 the only possible goal is the fight for winning the 2022 Formula 1 championships. Without ifs and buts…
