The past race weekend, the one held at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, USA, was a weekend lacking in satisfaction for Scuderia Ferrari. It was a weekend that the Italian team approached with confidence, hoping to confirm the progress shown after the disappointing start of the 2023 Formula One season and establish themselves as the second force on the field in terms of car performance.
Unfortunately, these expectations were not met as the SF-23 single-seater appeared slow and temperamental throughout the three-day American event, never performing at the level of their direct rivals: Aston Martin and Mercedes. In Florida, the Red car did not march properly and displayed significant handling and tire management issues.
This abnormal behavior, perhaps too much to be solely justified by the native weaknesses of the 2023 project, resulted in a “painful” flop for Maranello, undermining (at least partially) the work done in recent months. However, it should be noted that the technicians of the Scuderia are determined to remedy this situation by continuing to work hard on understanding and developing the SF-23, aiming to bring updates that, according to the gathered rumors, should give Ferrari a new identity and help it return consistently to the higher ranks of the standings.
Initially, these updates were planned to be introduced in several stages, with the first one scheduled for the Made in Italy Grand Prix at Imola. However, this week’s race will be clearly accompanied by highly uncertain and rainy weather conditions, which, as reported by the Italian version of Motorsport, have prompted the Maranello technicians to modify their plans.
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!
They have decided to postpone the introduction of the eagerly anticipated developments (new floor and rear suspension) for two weeks, until the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, thus avoiding the risk of compromising their work and assessing the effectiveness of the improvements under far from ideal track conditions.
“Ferrari is changing its plans for the Emilia Romagna GP. The inclement weather expected during the weekend advises against introducing too many updates at Imola, postponing the debut of the evolved SF-23 to Barcelona instead. […] The engineers have agreed that it wouldn’t make sense to debut the rear suspension if the practice sessions are to be held on a variable or wet track.”
However, this doesn’t mean that the SF-23 in Imola will be identical to the one in Miami but, on the contrary, it will feature aerodynamic adaptations specific to the Italian circuit and even a novelty in the rear diffuser that, at least in wind tunnel testing, impressed the technicians.
“The red car will be adjusted to suit the characteristics of the track, which require a compromise between the fast first section and the other two more technical sections, and it will have a different rear wing from the bulb-shaped one seen in Florida. […] A small modification has been introduced that showed very positive results in simulations.” – the Italian website informs.
It will be a weekend where the Prancing Horse won’t be able to attack as initially planned but will instead have to maximize the car’s potential and “limit the damage.” In doing so, a lot will be focused on the starting position, hoping that the “narrow” track and the skill of the drivers will allow them to finish the race as high as possible.
“Ferrari will seek to optimize the available resources, trying to exploit the potential that the red car is capable of extracting in a single lap. Imola is a rather narrow track where overtaking is not easy.”
Leave a Reply