Ferrari: change in concept took SF-23 car out of Charles Leclerc's comfort zone

Monza and Singapore: day and night. We’re not referring to the race conditions but rather the technical characteristics of two tracks that are polar opposites. The Italian circuit is all about extreme speed and hard braking, requiring very low aerodynamic downforce and making driving a constant challenge. Marina Bay, on the other hand, is a track of sharp turns, short distances, where downforce matters a lot, and traction makes a difference.

What has linked the last two races? Simple: a highly competitive Ferrari and a rejuvenated Carlos Sainz. A driver who has finally mastered the new-generation cars that he struggled with last year and took a long time to understand and fully exploit.

Leaving aside Carlos Sainz’s growth (which is not a minor factor in the season’s narrative), what pleases the Ferrari camp is the SF-23’s ability, a car that had been entirely dismissed not long ago, to adapt to two such different scenarios. It’s a novelty for a car that seemed to work only in specific contexts.

Ferrari: The SF-23’s Growth is Slow but Steady

The work done by the engineers in Maranello to understand the vehicle is finally paying off and represents a significant advantage in their pursuit of the second-place spot, which is becoming more attainable as Mercedes in the standings is no longer a distant and unattainable dot. To challenge Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, Charles Leclerc’s contribution is needed, as he appeared less comfortable than his teammate in the last two races.

Stating this does not diminish the exceptional driving skills of a true racing ace (let’s not indulge in the tiresome fan-based debates that increasingly poison social networks). It’s just an observation of a slight dip in performance that the former Sauber driver will surely overcome. Something he intends to do from the very first practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix, which starts in less than 48 hours.

Why is Charles Leclerc not fully utilizing the SF-23? In simple terms (there are more complex technical concepts in other writings), the reasoning is as follows: the setup that produces the best performance for the Italian car aligns less with Charles’ driving style but suits Carlos slightly better. There is no hidden agenda behind this dynamic, no ulterior motives at play. Let’s leave such hidden plotlines to thriller novels.

Just as the idea that Frédéric Vasseur’s arrival was meant to put the Monegasque in the spotlight was a fallacy, the absurd claims of a pro-Sainz campaign without a sensible basis should be discarded. To use a gentle term, it’s all nonsense. However, it would be more fitting to employ expressions that better suit this context.

In the last three races, Carlos Sainz has consistently outperformed Charles Leclerc. The margins were not huge, but in the end, the Spaniard managed to earn more points and widen the gap in the standings, creating a small margin of safety. The SF-23, between Monza and Singapore, demonstrated a solid consistency, a promising sign that Charles hopes to capitalize on.

“I really hope we can be competitive in Suzuka,” the Ferrari driver said after the Singapore GP. “If we can achieve that, it would be a great sign for the future. As I said in Zandvoort, we’ve done a lot of testing. In Monza, we wanted to confirm those tests. In Singapore, we applied everything and took a big step forward.”

Ferrari: Change in Concept Takes SF-23 Out of Leclerc’s Comfort Zone

Nothing happens by chance. Since the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari has adopted a philosophical shift in its aerodynamic concept. The engineers have followed the paths defined by Red Bull, focusing on the downwash effect of the sidepods. This approach seems to be particularly rewarding in the new-generation F1, as explained some time ago by Andrea Stella, whose team exponentially improved the MCL60 by adopting choices made by Adrian Newey two years ago.

The Red Team did not adapt immediately. It took months to digest and absorb the massive innovations. It took time to develop the setups suitable for the new context, which will form the basis of the 2024 car, already in advanced stages of development in Maranello. The ideas are clear, and they know exactly where to make adjustments. It needed time, and perhaps more will be required, but the path to narrowing the gap with the reigning world champions is set.

Charles is focused on the present and knows that Marina Bay has often brought out the best in Ferrari’s performance. The goal is to make progress structural, but this is where the challenge lies: “Singapore has historically been a good track for us, so we need to wait for another race to see if we’ve made a good step forward consistently or if it was an isolated event.”

Suzuka will be an important test venue, and if successful, it could open up exciting possibilities. One of the main problems with the SF-23 is its instability in high-speed corners. Marina Bay, apart from featuring many slow sections, is a track where you spend little time in a corner. That’s not the case in Suzuka, with iconic corners like the uphill esses, the Spoon, the 130R, sections that require a hyper-efficient aero-mechanical compromise to navigate smoothly.

Ferrari is heading in the opposite direction

Charles Leclerc explained how Ferrari has managed to find a compromise in the car’s setup but also admits that this balance may have made driving more challenging in certain conditions. Balancing the car to make it perform effectively sometimes requires setups that tend to make it less precise at the front. This condition contradicts the driving style of a driver who prefers a responsive front end and a rear end that follows. This car, on the other hand, requires driving in the opposite direction to produce solid performance. Carlos Sainz, who prefers the consistency of the rear axle, handles this setup better.

What is happening at Ferrari is, at the same time, a mirror image and the opposite of what has occurred over the past two years at Red Bull. The RB18 was designed to be a bit understeery, a condition that had boosted Sergio Perez’s performance. In Milton Keynes, they realized that to extract the car’s maximum potential, they needed to move toward a more precise front end. They achieved this through an extensive weight reduction program, bringing the car into Max Verstappen’s driving comfort zone, and he truly excelled from mid-2022 onward.

At Ferrari, however, they understood that to be faster, they need to highlight the characteristics that make the car slightly understeery, a condition that suits the Spanish driver. This is the straightforward explanation of the dynamic, and it dispels all notions of favoring one driver over another. If Carlos Sainz is more comfortable with the evolved SF-23, it’s purely a circumstantial matter.

The goal for Maranello’s engineers next year is to correct this approach and make the car more neutral, capable of adapting to both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. These two drivers are considered by the top management at Ferrari as the best driver pairing in the championship. This will likely lead to contract renewals for both, much to the chagrin of those who enjoy creating unwarranted controversy.