Ferrari SF-23 among the most wind-sensitive cars on 2023 F1 grid – report. SF-23 among the most wind-sensitive cars.

Regulation changes
Due to the obvious problems that appeared over the course of the 2022 Formula 1 season with bouncing and porpoising, as is well known, the International Federation has decided to intervene both with a technical directive which was introduced starting with last year’s Belgian Grand Prix and with a technical modification on the 2023 single-seaters, with the edges of the floor being raised by 15 mm, to prevent the cars from turning too low and therefore generating bouncing.

During the winter pre-season testing session, which took place last week, bouncing and porpoising problems were clearly fewer than last year, with the exception of some teams such as Ferrari which tested extreme set-ups on the first day, just to verify the limit of the single-seater. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) in recent days, however, wanted to focus attention on another key aspect, namely the wind sensitivity of the new cars: “There is less porpoising, but one of the negative consequences that everyone will have to face is a greater influence of the wind.”

The 2023 Formula 1 cars will therefore have greater more difficulties in terms of balance, for example if the gusts of wind are transversal in high-speed corners, since they will directly affect the balance of the single-seaters.

Ferrari and the wind
In the three days of winter pre-season testing, the Ferrari SF-23 showed that it had solved the problems with the power unit which affected the 2022 F1 campaign. The top speed also proved to be encouraging, but two issues emerged, one relating to the characteristics of the new single-seater which required Charles Leclerc to change his driving style and set-up, and a second problem related to the excessive tire wear on long runs. As reported by the German magazine ‘Auto, Motor und Sport’ “the new Ferrari car is significantly more sensitive to the wind” as compared to the F1-75 challenger and this aspect could have an important impact on a track like the Bahrain International Circuit, where the wind direction often played a key role in lap times.

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