Scuderia Ferrari doesn’t want to play defensively; they are going on the attack. In the Austrian Grand Prix, a new floor will debut with the technicians confident that they have found the right development path for the SF-23, a car that is difficult to set up and equally challenging to drive, with a very narrow operating window.
After a disastrous debut in Spain, the Canadian Grand Prix showed us an Evo that responded to the adjustments, capable of completing race stints with a similar pace to Aston Martin and Mercedes, although not on par with Red Bull, which remains out of reach for everyone.
Finally discovering a less rigid behavior from the red car on the track has given Fred Vasseur and the Technical Office the impetus to accelerate their development plans and verify in the field if Technical Director Enrico Cardile and his colleagues have found the key to unravel the complexities that have made this first part of the championship truly disappointing.
Ferrari has scheduled a filming day at Fiorano for Tuesday, as reported by Formula Uno. It will be an opportunity to complete the 100 km allowed by the FIA and carry out commercial filming. However, it will also be an excellent chance to evaluate the new floor that will then be sent to Austria.
Simulation data for the Red Bull Ring has fueled excitement within the Sports Management team because the numbers suggest that the SF-23 could continue the positive trend that began in Montreal. However, it is not the first time we have heard about high expectations after work in the wind tunnel and simulator, only to be met with cold reality as soon as the wheels hit the asphalt.
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Therefore, the second filming day comes at the perfect time to have an initial comparison between the new aerodynamic configuration and the track. The test in Barcelona for the development of Pirelli 2024 tires after the Spanish GP provided useful insights to both the Maranello technicians and those from Mercedes, who were present with a W14. It offered indications on how to find the best setup by sacrificing some aerodynamic load but stabilizing the behavior of the red car with fewer height variations. This allowed for less rigid suspensions, enabling the SF-23 to attack the curbs on Notre Dame Island.
The introduction of the floor in Barcelona already revealed Ferrari’s strategy of taking a step back from certain solutions that worked last year. It will be interesting to see what approach they will take in Austria…
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