Ferrari: detailed look at SF-23’s new Red Bull-like vertical diffuser ‘fences’| 2023 British GP. SF-23's new Red Bull-like diffuser fences.

Charles Leclerc’s second-place finish in the Austrian GP has raised the expectations of Scuderia Ferrari fans, who hope to see the red car competitive even on a more challenging track like Silverstone. The new floor seems to have given the SF-23 a more balanced behavior on the track, reducing tire wear. Here’s an image that shows how the engineers in Maranello have followed the direction of Red Bull, possibly finding a development path that can yield results.

One could introduce a column called “separated at birth” to highlight how the convergence of technical choices in Formula 1 inevitably leads to solutions that increasingly resemble each other. After the first year of ground-effect cars in 2022, when the cars had very different characteristics with three distinct aerodynamic philosophies (Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari).

In Austria, the Scuderia introduced a heavily modified new floor at the front, usually not easy to see as it is often obscured by the wheel. However, an image captured by Giorgio Piola in the Silverstone pit allows Motorsport Italy to observe the mouths of the Venturi channels, with flow deflectors that divide the different airflow passages.

One doesn’t need to be a technical expert to understand that Ferrari has changed its aerodynamic approach with the SF-23. Perhaps at the beginning of the championship, the goal was to search for peak downforce, whereas now it seems that the engineers, led by Enrico Cardile, have shifted towards the concepts developed by Adrian Newey on the RB19, seeking a bit less vertical lift in absolute terms but relying on a stable flow capable of providing great balance to the car’s behavior throughout the entire lap, preserving tire wear, and allowing for lower ground clearances without the risk of scraping the floor on the asphalt.

The outermost element, improperly referred to as the bargeboard, has been redesigned. In the frontal view, it clearly shows how this crucial feature, aimed at preventing turbulence from the front wheel from dirtying the low-pressure area of the floor, now has a more pronounced design with the clear intention of favoring the outwash effect.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that Ferrari has reached a point already achieved by Red Bull with the RB19. Giorgio Piola’s drawing also confirms that the three flow conditioners at the entrance of the Venturi channels exhibit similarities. They protrude from the tunnel and, most importantly, have adopted rounded shapes on the leading edge with variously cambered profiles, demonstrating careful research in this area that can enhance performance.

To complete the update package from Austria, Ferrari should also introduce a new diffuser at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix weekend that is more in line with the solutions that yielded very positive results at the Red Bull Ring.