The Ferrari SF-23 continues to reserve surprises and the careful analysis of the images of the presentation leads to the discovery of other innovations that are not limited only to the bypass duct which has already alarmed the whole paddock.
The duct of the Ferrari SF-23 which carries air from the lower part of the sidepods to the upper one, causing it to come out of that periscope which can be seen on the sides of the gills that are located inside the excavated part, is carefully evaluated by all the teams: there are those who are starting to admit that a study was done when analyzing the solutions to be introduced on the new car, while someone had even thought of the new S-duct for the 2022 single-seater, but then the idea did not find a place on the car because the 2022 Formula 1 challengers were very overweight and the bypass duct would have been a further burden from this point of view.
Others have made qualitative assessments believing that the aerodynamic advantages would not have been so big as to justify their use. Be that as it may, Ferrari is betting on the bypass duct and the first data collected from the 100 km of the filming day at Fiorano confirmed the expectations that had been assessed in the wind tunnel.
But the SF-23 showed another different approach from the F1-75: finally in Maranello they decided to make some changes to the front suspension, while maintaining the well-tested push rod scheme. Indeed, in the image taken by Giorgio Piola and posted by Motorsport Italy, it is clearly visible how the shape of the body has been modified in the front part.
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Enrico Cardile, the technical manager of the project, explained that “… the most evident changes of the new suspension are certainly in the front area, where we have gone from a configuration with a high track road to a low track road, guided by the needs of aerodynamics”. The Italian engineer also underlined that “the front wing is different as well as the structure of the nose”.
The approach of the front has been changed more than it seems: the two triangles with carbon covers that have been specially designed to laminate the flows according to the wishes of Diego Tondi’s staff, the Ferrari aerodynamics chief. Not only that, but the suspension arms have been lowered so that the chassis is also in line with the nose which is more hollowed out on the sides in the lower part.
Even in the yellow dotted line, the chassis rises towards the Venturi channel and the vertical intake of the bypass duct is not overlooked, a sign that the introduction of this concept has been evaluated with great attention in the definition of the entire front part of the SF-23.
The photo from Motorsport Italy allows us to see that the keel of the SF-23 reaches the leading edge of the tea-tray, and there is no longer the double splitter that Ferrari had immediately copied to the Aston Martin AMR22 already for the presentation of the F1-75.
The Ferrari SF-23 car completed the shakedown at the Fiorano circuit a few days ago and has already been sent to Bahrain: the official pre-season testing session will begin on Wednesday and it will be possible to start making the first performance analyzes in comparison with the rivals from Red Bull and Mercedes.
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