Ferrari has another obstacle to overcome: convincing spouses and children. This is one of the major hurdles when the Maranello team is set to recruit new personnel. Living in England and relocating to Italy is not as straightforward as it seems. Different customs and habits, an unfamiliar language – these add another layer of complexity to the already challenging task of luring top-notch technicians away from the competition.
Fred Vasseur points this out, not as an excuse, but as a reality.
Amidst all this, there’s a season to salvage – or rather, a season to employ in the uphill battle to regain lost ground. We’ve been discussing this for weeks on our pages. Continuous testing on the car even makes its way into the race, all in an effort to gather as much information as possible about the SF-23. This decision is a collective one, with both drivers and engineers tirelessly working on it. However, this operation proves challenging, as the understanding so far hasn’t resolved the “unpredictable performance fluctuations” of the red car.
Analyzing the 2023 campaign’s first 12 races, the competitiveness gap with Red Bull has been significant. The French manager has ventured into certain percentages. While it’s accurate to note that the gap in qualifying has never been large (sometimes even negative), the story changes during the Sunday race. A gap that’s never bridgeable and often quite substantial. The primary issue here? Tire management. The SF-23 exploits them excessively. To mitigate this, the two “Carlos” are asked to lower their lap times, which in turn makes the situation even more complicated.
The Italian car is challenging to drive. This challenge is somewhat masked during a push lap. Empty fuel tanks, extra tire grip, and risks taken manage to smooth out the red car’s flaws, allowing drivers to extract greater potential. In these cases, naturally, the driver’s skill makes a significant difference. This situation stems from the desire to improve the 2022 concept, which worked well as long as it could utilize specific ground-related techniques. Not anymore.
This point stands as a technical oversight behind many current issues, as the stability of downforce at certain speeds decreases, giving rise to the aforementioned unpredictability. Ferrari has been aware of this for a while and is actively trying to adapt a new aerodynamic setup, a task that is proving challenging. We’ve seen this through the updates which, due to the well-known technical reasons, won’t be effective on the SF-23. Therefore, in this championship, even with further “additions,” we must settle for a hybrid design. It’s only in 2024 that we can veer toward different conceptual paths.
Regarding the drivers, analysis is by no means easy. The driver pairing is strong, complementary in various aspects. However, it’s clear that the current scenario isn’t conducive, at least from Sainz’s perspective. His primary objective, and the only attainable one in terms of results, is to outperform his teammate. While the Spaniard seems to have this firmly in his sights, the Monegasque driver appears much more interested in hitting the jackpot. Putting everything on one number, crossing fingers, and, with Red Bull’s cooperation, hoping for a stage victory that might somehow lift his morale.
On the other hand, if we want to discuss and assess the on-field work with a view toward 2024, we can say that Carlos’s consistency wavers. In some cases, the Spaniard exudes confidence, instilling assurance in the team. In other instances, he loses himself in a trivial matter, poisoned by excessive enthusiasm which leads to errors. Charles Leclerc, perhaps, demonstrates a stronger connection with the team, spending every minute of his time seeking new “creative solutions” to make the SF-23 faster. However, similar to the Spanish driver, his impulsiveness often gets the better of him.
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