Although the difficult start to the 2023 Formula 1 season has forced a revision of the objectives for the current championship, Scuderia Ferrari remains aware that it has a car, the SF-23, which still has a lot of potential to express. So let’s see what will be the main areas of intervention on which the Maranello technicians will act in view of the next rounds of the 2023 Formula 1 world championship.
First of all, the Scuderia has embarked on an evolutionary path in floor area, with the first innovations introduced in the last Australian Grand Prix. Development will continue, as suggested by Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, at Imola in the search for a better aerodynamic center of pressure. The clear goal is to make the SF-23 less sensitive to variations in ride height, increasing the load generated by the floor.
A further evolution is then planned for the Spanish GP, where sidepods with a revised rear profile will be adopted. From this point of view, it is likely that the Maranello team will introduce sidepods more similar to the aerodynamic concept adopted on the Red Bull RB19, without renouncing the groove in the upper part, as already seen on the Aston Martin. In doing so, the Maranello engineers aim for a more precise distribution of the upper load, favoring the overall balance of the SF-23 car. The hope is, in fact, to regain part of the car’s overall grip that has been lacking so far, especially at the rear, going to reduce the high tire degradation seen in the first rounds.
The last area in which most of the updates scheduled for the next races will be concentrated will be that of the rear suspension. In Maranello they are studying a revised architecture of this component, especially in the attachment points of the upper triangle. In fact, by moving the rear arm to the base that supports the rear wing, the aim is to increase the “anti-dive” effect of the rear axle.
Again, the source of inspiration is the highly effective RB19. On the single-seater designed by Adrian Newey, the rear arm is even a single piece, which guarantees a prompt response from the suspension even when adopting softer set-ups. In fact, such a solution allows the component to respond actively to the crushing of the rear axle during acceleration as well as to the longitudinal load transfers between the front and rear axles.
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And the effect sought in Ferrari is precisely a more dynamic response. Specifically, a “RB19 style” solution would allow for the adoption of softer set-ups, with the consequent increase in mechanical grip at low speeds, as well as the possibility of opting for a minimum ground clearance capable of increasing the load generated by the floor.
This is a particularly complex operation which obviously takes time. From this point of view, the cancellation of the Chinese GP works in favor of the Maranello engineers. Much of the work will thus be concentrated in the weeks that separate us from the next appointment, scheduled at the Baku City Circuit for 30 April. Further updates will then be introduced in view of the first of Ferrari’s two home races, Imola, where a deeply revised SF-23 is expected. The basic objective remains, in fact, to find the feedback obtained so far only on the simulator but which had encouraged the Ferrari technicians before the start of the 2023 Formula One season.
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