In winter there is always a lot of chatter around the development of new Formula 1 cars, not just regarding Ferrari. Negative statements hardly come out but, as happened with Aston Martin, positivity does not necessarily have to be seen as due. Then it is always the track that gives the verdict, when the data from the factory tools and the simulator are no longer relevant to outside eyes.
In this modern era of Formula 1, when you have the ‘wrong’ car there is no room, both in terms of development and budget, to build a totally new one. “We wish we could build a new chassis but with the budget cap it’s impossible.” – Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted – “You can change the aerodynamics and the bodywork. This is certainly possible.” – the Austrian manager added.
Ferrari denies correlation problems while Mercedes and AlphaTauri are very critical of their engineers’ winter work
AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost spoke very harshly against his engineers: “The engineers told me of great progress made during the winter. I have not seen any of this in Bahrain. I no longer trust engineers and data. From now on, I’m only interested in lap times.” Benedetto Vigna, CEO of Ferrari, must have also thought similarly, as he paid for his inexperience and also blindly trusted his technicians, so much so that he even spoke of a 2023 car that was “unprecedented in terms of speed”.
Then there is Mercedes which, after the strong disappointment of 2022, wanted to give the zeropods concept a last chance, albeit revised in a much less aggressive way. “The data deceived us, it made us say that we would return to compete for the win and instead we are still a long way from Red Bull.” – Toto Wolff admitted after the Bahain race weekend.
On the other hand, Ferrari continues to deny there are problems between what was seen in the Maranello simulation tools and then on the track, i.e. that the SF-23 should have gone very fast, leading Fred Vasseur to speak of a world championship goal, while on the track it proved to be a slow car. Up to the point of becoming the fourth strength in Jeddah, also behind the W14, much criticized by the Mercedes top management. Upon a precise question on this matter, Frederic Vasseur denied any issues with correlation data. However, even last season Mattia Binotto denied us that the Technical Directive 39/22 was responsible for the disappearance of performance of the F1-75 after the summer, which was never found again, not even with the SF-23.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Is Ferrari the SF-23 simply slow or is she a temperamental diva?
The Italian team arrived in Arabia with the right confidence that the problems encountered in Bahrain would not recur at the Jeddah circuit with the SF-23 that was expected to get closer to Red Bull in terms of race pace. In short, a friendlier track for the Italian car, which could have brought it back to being second strength, ahead of Aston Martin and Mercedes. Here the first updates were also introduced, with a change to the front wing endplate and the monopilon rear wing, alongside a beam wing that had already been seen in the winter pre-season testing session. The floor was also been modified, but the specification was only tested in free practice and then set aside for now.
An important data collection work was carried out, more for Maranello than for the track, as well as meticulous optimization of the setup to arrive well prepared for the race. “Before the weekend and after the second free practice I thought we could be second force here in Jeddah,” said Carlos Sainz. Especially on the hard tyres, Ferrari’s lap times fell short of the competition, the Spaniard admitted: “This latest stint shows that we are not where we want to be. Our tire wear is even greater than that of Mercedes or Aston Martin.”
35 seconds behind Red Bull in 50 laps, this was the huge deficit of Ferrari in Saudi Arabia. 15 from Aston Martin and 10 seconds from the first Mercedes. A disastrous GP, given the premises ahead of the race weekend, with an SF-23 even 7 tenths slower than the F1-75. Everything is traced back to the use of the new Pirelli tyres. “We have to understand.” it is not Mattia Binotto who pronounces it but Frederic Vasseur. An assist to indicate a strong similarity that exists between the second half of last season and this beginning of 2023, i.e. the performance well below expectations, as explained by F1 expert Piergiuseppe Donadoni for formu1a.uno
The important problem that technicians and drivers are encountering is that of being able to extract the maximum potential of the SF-23. A project with enormous potential but which is very difficult to show on the track. “Today we didn’t have the pace to do anything better. There wasn’t much more to the car.” Charles Leclerc admitted – “We have some updates for Australia, but the biggest problem is that we can’t extract the maximum potential from the car.” – Fred Vasseur made it known in the classic post-race conference. As if the Italian car were a capricious temperamental diva.
