Are we sure that the Ferrari SF-23 challenger is not just beautiful but also revolutionary? Enrico Cardile, the technical director of the Scuderia, was not seen at the Fiorano presentation, but talked about the SF-23 car in a video posted by the social media accounts of the Maranello team. He limited himself to saying: “The 2023 single-seater is an evolution of last year’s car, but in reality it has all been completely redesigned”.
The images that Ferrari has released of the SF-23 were deliberately taken against a dark background to hide what can be considered the real novelty of the car: a sort of S-duct that has no longer found a place between the nose and what was once the vanity panel placed above the chassis.
David Sanchez, the creative aerodynamicist of Ferrari, has seen fit to transfer this item to the base of the chassis, immediately under the mouth of the sidepods for cooling the radiators, to create a duct that brings the air from the lower part of the sidepods to the upper one, where that periscope vents that is immediately noticed at first glance.
Ferrari’s intuition in the wind tunnel would have given great results: now we need to see if the response from the track will confirm the simulation data. The change on the SF-23 car should ensure two advantages:
first – obtain a better filling of air in the opening under the sidepods, increasing the quality of the flow that is carried towards the floor;
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second – the fresh air that is expelled above the sidewall helps to extract heat from the radiators improving the cooling of the power unit and the aerodynamic efficiency of the excavation with a further increase in downforce thanks to the body of the car, without generating extra drag.
The Scuderia did not want to hide this solution perhaps being aware that it will be impossible to copy it soon: if it works, it could be an element of competitiveness on a car that faces the 2023 championship with the ambition of fighting for victory against Red Bull and Mercedes.
Ferrari on the SF-23, which is an advanced evolution of the F1-75, introduces a revolutionary idea that will be a source of great attention from opponents. Has the Maranello team played an ace that hasn’t been kept up its sleeve?
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