Sensations. In the world’s most technological sport, can impressions hold the value of scientific proof? Clearly not. But if these are expressed by a driver, then things change. At the beginning of this season, as he himself recounted, Charles Leclerc claimed to be stunned after testing the Ferrari SF-23 for the first time.
There was something that didn’t generate the right vibes, and a pure talent, with a keen sense of driving, had immediately sensed the danger. From the first laps of the shakedown at Fiorano among cheering fans, it had seemed clear—perceptions, precisely—that the car would be a beautiful untamed colt. In Bahrain, during the pre-season testing sessions, confirmation arrived: the SF-23 would not be a faithful and sincere adventure companion.
That’s why, in the 2024 championship being built at this stage, the opinions of the drivers who will make the “first listen” to the new instrument will be important. And this will happen no earlier than mid to late February, after the wraps have been lifted from Project 676, the provisional name of the car on which Leclerc and Sainz are counting to enjoy some satisfaction beyond what they achieved in the championship dominated in all directions by Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
Before the day to physically get into the car arrives for the drivers, all that’s left is to use the simulator programmed with the data that computational analyses are releasing on the cars in the definition phase. Hamilton and Russell have intensified their presence in the Brackley “spider,” in Milton Keynes, test driver Jake Dennis is “whipping” the virtual version of the RB20, drawing indications that are promising: “The RB19 is amazing, but we hope the RB20 is good too. I can confirm that it’s doing quite well in the simulator, so we should be good for next year.”
Ferrari, Sainz tests the virtual 676
At Ferrari, of course, there is no rest. The expected confirmation came from Carlos Sainz, who settled into the Maranello simulator, engaging in long working sessions aimed at validating the technical path taken by the engineers who, in the words of Cardile, understood the problems that afflicted the SF-23 to create a model that surpasses them once and for all.
The Spaniard, negotiating the renewal with the Prancing Horse, seemed more measured in his judgments compared to Jake Dennis. Calm, that doesn’t mean anything. Being moderate doesn’t mean the project has taken the wrong path. Past experience conditions, and it’s always better to avoid false illusions with overly optimistic outbursts that would be deleterious in this historical juncture.
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After descending from the simulator, the former McLaren driver noted that the virtual car behaves differently from the SF-23. And this can already be considered a starting point that releases a bit of optimism. But Carlos is pragmatic and stated that it won’t be possible to assess where the car stands until the physical model goes on track with a certain amount of fuel to understand tire behavior, an aspect that in 2023 created more than one difficulty for drivers and engineers since the operational window of the SF-23 was very narrow.
Before the Bahrain winter tests deliver the first verdicts, it is necessary to continue the work by adding performance to the simulator and increasingly efficient details in the wind tunnel, respecting the constraints of the ATR mechanism.
In the second part of the last championship, Ferrari operated on a dual track. On the one hand, the aim was to maximize potential, on the other, focus was placed on the 2024 project. And it is not certain that the progress made on the SF-23 can be entirely transferred to Project 677. This is because a new concept will be adopted, a necessary philosophical turn to try to tighten the ranks. But what has been done will still be useful because, in the development path, it has been understood what the critical areas were. A wealth of knowledge that will serve to avoid falling into the same mistakes.
“We need to focus on understanding why the car is strong in certain conditions and why, instead, it is weak on other tracks and in other types of corners,” explained Carlos Sainz, as reported by motorsport. “There are aspects of the SF-23 that I would like to see on the car next year. Certainly straight-line speed, braking performance, and performance in 90-degree corners and short-duration corners. Even riding the curbs, I believe, is a strong point. So the car has very, very strong points.”
Ferrari engineers are working to find a compromise that does not detract from the 2024 model these valuable characteristics that must coexist with even more important ones: full adaptability to every track and the ability to manage tires optimally.
Only in this way can an truly effective car be set up, capable of making its mark in the duel with Red Bull and rivals of the caliber of McLaren and Mercedes, who do not hide high, very high, ambitions. A couple more months, and it will be clear to everyone whether the skills of Maranello have concentrated efforts in the desired direction.
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