The two pole positions and third place achieved by Charles Leclerc in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend have brought a smile back to the Ferrari team. It was a particularly morale-boosting result, but the Italian side needs to be aware that the characteristics of the circuit and Charles Leclerc’s near-perfect driving performance played a major role in the outcome of the Baku event.
It is no secret that despite intense work in the factory during the break after the Australian GP, no major updates were introduced by the Maranello team at the Baku City Circuit due to the presence of only one Free Practice session according to the revised Sprint race format.
Formula 1 now moves to Florida, and with the return to the traditional format including Free Practice sessions, Ferrari will begin to take the first steps in terms of introducing updates for the SF-23 single-seater.
“In Miami, we will start introducing developments to the car,” confirmed Team Principal Vasseur. “We will continue in the next two GPs [Imola and Barcelona, Ed.] to understand how the car will react.” – the French managed added.
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According to the plan set in Maranello, not all updates will be introduced in the American round, as they prefer to obtain feedback from the track on the effectiveness of the work done in the factory.
“Introducing updates without being able to extract their full potential makes no sense,” explained the Ferrari team principal – “I believe that at the moment our main enemy is consistency of performance. In Baku, we made some improvements, which is a positive sign that we are moving in the right direction.” – he continued.
New sidepods for the SF-23 car
As for the areas of development, Frederic Vasseur preferred not to go into details, simply emphasizing that as long as Red Bull is ahead, they will have to continue working hard to reduce the gap.
“At the moment they are superior, there’s little to say,” added the Team Principal. “Of course, understanding whether the problem is aerodynamic or mechanical is another story.”
According to the Italian website F1inGenerale, the main updates for the next races will focus on the sidepods. Specifically, with the aim of streamlining the car body, the specification studied for Miami will be more hollowed out on the underside, following the aerodynamic concept introduced by Red Bull, which seems to be the best in terms of development potential.
However, this solution will require the relocation of some ducts to improve engine cooling. In this regard, Ferrari preferred not to take any particular risks on the reliability front after the first warning signs at the beginning of the season, especially the technical failure suffered by Charles Leclerc in Bahrain.
