The final exam has been passed. Scuderia Ferrari feared failure in Canada at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve after the underwhelming debut of the SF-23 Evo in Barcelona. At Montmelo, it seemed that the silent work done in recent months in the Racing Department to get the red car back on track, which had shown the same flaws as its predecessor in Spain, was all in vain.
Fred Vasseur never lost his calm, and even in such a moment, nerves could fray for someone who always maintains a certain composure. The Frenchman remained clear-headed, convinced that the project had the foundations to make a leap forward, even though the 12 points that Diego Tondi’s team had found in the wind tunnel (around 3-4 tenths per lap on a track like the Catalan one) had never been seen in Spain.
The fear was that the correlation between the simulation systems and the track had been lost, and in that case, the trouble would have been serious, as it would have taken a few months to put everything back in order after finding the key. It only took two days of Pirelli testing, again in Barcelona, to uncover the mystery and understand which direction to take.
The car remained the same (according to regulations, it could not be modified as the focus of the test was the 2024 tires), but when porpoising issues arose, the technicians were allowed to change the ride height to give the drivers a more manageable car and thus provide better feedback on the tires. Without the pressure of performance and lap times, by increasing the height by a few millimeters, the SF-23 gradually found a more balanced behavior that allowed for longer tire stints.
Let’s clarify right away for the skeptics: the two-day testing session was part of the test calendar agreed upon by Pirelli, the FIA, and the teams. Furthermore, it wasn’t just Ferrari testing in Barcelona, but Mercedes was also present. Just to make it clear that this session had nothing to do with anything from the past involving the Silver Arrows.
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An aerodynamic problem emerged, the dreaded porpoising, associated with a mechanical issue caused by a limited adjustment of the rear suspension. The new configuration of the SF-23, which anticipated concepts in the sidepods that were later seen on the Aston Martin AMR23’s debut in Montreal, evidently needed a suitable setup, and the path taken in Barcelona, aiming for maximum downforce, did not work.
Following Adrian Newey’s principles adopted for the Red Bull RB19, Ferrari finally gave up on chasing peak downforce and instead focused on achieving a more consistent downforce level throughout the entire lap.
Critics will argue that the improvements of the red car emerged on a track like Canada, which doesn’t show tire degradation like in Australia and Baku. That’s true, and it’s a factor that cannot be ignored. Therefore, it’s logical to expect confirmation at the next race in Austria, especially considering that the Red Bull Ring was the site of Ferrari’s last victory with Charles Leclerc.
The increased ride height and a less stiff setup (allowing the SF-23s to attack the curbs without bouncing like “kangaroos”) thanks to revised and corrected suspensions: it’s not entirely new, despite what Fred Vasseur insists, as there’s just one additional hole that allowed for expanded adjustments. The indications from the long runs in the free practice sessions were positive and confirmed during Sunday’s race, despite the different track temperatures and grip conditions.
The important novelty is that Ferrari displayed a much more consistent and less unpredictable behavior in Canada, restoring some confidence in the two drivers. We witnessed a “normalization” of the red car. If Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz hadn’t encountered difficulties during qualifying, the Scuderia could have aimed for a podium, giving the impression of being able to challenge Aston Martin and compete with Mercedes.
The Maranello team has homologated the third engine out of the four allowed for the season, a sign that Maranello wanted to rely on a fresh unit on a track that historically favored Ferrari on paper. This choice was also made because the power unit has been developed on the hybrid side, aiming to make the engine response less abrupt, thus contributing to preserving tire durability.
It emerges, therefore, that there is an integrated work between the departments that can be conducive to the 2024 car project. Not only that, but for Spa-Francorchamps, the last race before the summer break, a new strategy in the use of the ERS should be decided, including different energy recharge and electric power management methods. This is a result of the experience that David George, the engineer who arrived from Red Bull, reportedly suggested to Enrico Gualtieri, the head of Maranello’s power unit department.
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