In the last few days, the Formula 1 teams have been engaged in the finishing and assembly phase of the 2023 single-seaters. A process that represents the last milestone before the winter official testing session scheduled from 23 to 25 February at the Bahrain International Circuit, the venue of the first round of the 2023 Formula One season.
Despite the technical regulations are largely the same, the period for setting up a single-seater, as well as the phases of the technical project, are macroscopically the same as those seen in the last decade. Before the introduction of the financial rules relating to the spending limit, the teams with greater economic resources could compress the manufacturing phase to the maximum in favor of a much broader design task.
This chance made it possible to deliberate aerodynamic solutions after very in-depth simulations. Obviously the extreme compression of production/construction times was a huge risk in the event of problems during the assembly phase.
As in the past, the phase called “brainstorming car design” for 2023 began before the summer break last season. This means that all the teams have started to lay the foundations of their respective 2023 projects on the basis of the know-how acquired on the 2022 models.
A key role in the creation of an F1 car is played by the programming department. This function monitors the execution of the design tasks from the concept phase up to the completion of the production process, in a cyclical manner at increasingly smaller time intervals, in relation to the project deadline, as explained by funoanalisitecnica.com.
The macro scheduling of an F1 single-seater project, previously illustrated in the graphics, was completely different, at least in terms of execution times, for the three top teams. Ferrari, in perfect timing with respect to the usual road map, has begun the concept phase of the 675 project before the summer break.
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However, the peculiarity of the choice made by the management of the Prancing Horse was the almost total allocation of the resources of the technical area to the 2023 technical project, in the midst of the world championship fight with Red Bull. The lack of reliability of the 066/7 power units, together with the few and ineffective updates decided for the F1-75, have forced the Maranello team to postpone Ferrari’s hope for glory to 2023.
As far as the Milton Keynes team is concerned, the huge performance differnce between Red Bull and Ferrari seen from Spa-Francorchamps onwards is indicative of the need/will to refine a technical project that aims to dominate the first part of next 2023 season. This also in relation to the penalty imposed by the FIA which, theoretically, should limit the development of the RB19 challenger.
The “budget cap gate” has partially minimized the gap created by the RB18 against the competition. The much talked about chassis lightened by no less than 6 kg, which Red Bull intended to debut at the Singapore Grand Prix, will certainly be an ace up the sleeve of the RB19, net of the changes imposed by the regulation for the “floor edge”.
The Mercedes W14 project deserves a separate discussion. Despite the numerous micro aerodynamic updates to which the W13 “B” was subjected, the silver arrows struggled a lot to express their potential, net of the competitive flashes seen in Spain and Canada.
The first real design phase goes back to the pole position signed by George Russell on the occasion of the thirteenth round at the Hungaroring. In essence, while Ferrari and Red Bull began the concept phase based on feedback from competitive cars, the men led by Toto Wolff weren’t aware of the actual value of their car. For this reason, they expressed the need to extend development up to the United States event in Austin.
In the last quarter of the 2022 championship, the Brackley engineers were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The W13 “B” version was finally able to replicate the excellent results appreciated in computer simulations and in the wind tunnel. Nevertheless, Mercedes has reached certainties with a delay of 3 months to the competition.
The conviction of the relative effectiveness of some parts of the “Zero Sidepod” philosophy, rather than starting from a blank sheet by replicating the most performing aerodynamic elements of the competitors, prompted the Brackley technical area to modify the project to make it more factual. An excellent starting point that is essential for playing a leading role in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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