Ferrari sacrifices downforce to protect SF-23 front end and balance at COTA

For the historic Ferrari team, the U.S. Grand Prix weekend will be all about one word: compromise. Yes, because when a Formula One car lacks something to perform at its best, efforts are made to “hide” its flaws while accentuating its strengths. To do this, a deep understanding of one’s own car is required to determine the right setup. The technicians at Maranello have thoroughly studied the US track and have reached a conclusion.

This choice becomes even more crucial due to the unique format, which once again, during the 2023 racing campaign, includes the much-discussed Sprint Race. This condition significantly limits on-track work, considering there’s only one hour available to test the cars before the parc fermé. This is already a challenging scenario, and it becomes more complicated when the circuit layout doesn’t perfectly match your car’s characteristics.

Naturally, while this reasoning applies to all teams, having a substantial performance advantage expands the possibilities considerably. Red Bull is well aware of this, as they possess an almost perfect F1 car with a very wide setup window. Then there’s Mercedes, currently second in the constructors’ standings. It will be a weekend of extensive analysis for the Brackley-based team, bearing in mind that the all-black cars in Texas will be fitted with the latest major update of the season.

This new underfloor seeks to anticipate some concepts useful in the present but especially for the upcoming car, a W15 that will challenge for the top spot. In the meantime, the aim is to validate this new component and make it as effective as possible. This measure aims to maximize the management of airflow towards the rear, providing stability to the aerodynamic platform to further balance it and deliver a higher load.

Ferrari SF-23: Reduced Rear Downforce to Stabilize the Aerodynamic Platform

Looking at the various configurations of the top teams for this eighteenth round of the season, we notice that the decisions made behind closed doors regarding the car’s setup bring about several differences. When inspecting the Austrian cars in the pit lane through the usual checks by the International Federation, it’s evident that the group of aerodynamic experts led by Adrian Newey has opted for a high-downforce rear wing. Reflecting on this, we are talking about a team that can afford such a choice given the high level of efficiency that only the cars from Milton Keynes can achieve.

This factor allows them to maximize the generated load while achieving very competitive top speeds. Equipped with the update that will be tested on one car for comparative purposes in FP1, Mercedes is also coming to COTA with a high level of rear downforce. Both W14 cars feature a high-downforce rear wing with a double-peak pressure distribution. This decision aligns with what they did last year when the former “Silver Arrows” engineers used the same specification. It remains to be seen whether the top speeds will measure up.

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Ferrari, on the other hand, aims for something different. Contrary to what logic might dictate, the anticipated scenario will not occur. The Prancing Horse’s aerodynamic experts have opted for a rear wing version with less downforce compared to last season. The 2022 specification, in fact, included a more pronounced main plane to handle the first sector. However, it is known that the current Ferrari works better with medium downforce since applying more rear downforce causes the car to become unbalanced, taking away too much front-end grip. This problem cannot be mechanically resolved, and certainly not by loading the front.

For this reason, considering all the factors related to the only hour available to find the most effective setup, it will be very interesting to see if the Ferrari team can still find the right balance with a different setup for the Austin weekend as compared to last season. According to the information gathered by the editorial team of FUnoanalisitecnica, there is confidence in this regard. However, as always in such cases, this belief will need to be confirmed on the track.