Ferrari SF-23 analysis and key changes compared to F1-75 car

The SF-23 is the legacy that Mattia Binotto left to Fred Vasseur: the French manager finds himself served on a silver platter a Formula 1 car that aspires to fight for the two world titles which was designed by those who are no longer at the helm of the Sports Management.

Ferrari, in spite of many who have decided to hide their 2023 cars and chose to show renderings, often computer-corrected to hide some solutions, returned to a live show car launch with journalists, VIPs and Ferrari Club fans. Other times that ignited the imagination of those who remembered the roaring years of the Michael Schumacher era.

It has been 16 years since a Ferrari man has won the Drivers’ Championship (Kimi Raikkonen in 2007) and there have been 15 seasons without the Constructors’ title: a wait that has become exhausting. Will the 69th Ferrari single-seater be able to break the spell with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz?

Looking at it, the SF-23 shows a great resemblance to the F1-75 that preceded it, but in reality it is a car that should have corrected the errors that had made it weak from a certain point of the season onwards.

Ferrari has not betrayed its construction philosophy, believing that the wide and hollow sidepods could be a valid alternative to the sloping sides of the Red Bull. Enrico Cardile, the technical director, had no doubts, focusing on painstaking development work that led to an SF-23 so similar to the SF-75, but so different in every bolt. Their own line of research has not been betrayed, while many others have sought a mix between the ideas of the Prancing Horse and those of Red Bull: the most striking example is given by the Aston Martin AMR23.

Weight saving and aerodynamic efficiency
The inspiring objective in Maranello was the search for weight reduction and the desire to challenge Max Verstappen even at the end of the straights, with a top speed with open DRS that does not demean the Prancing Horse’s expectations. Obviously in Maranello they have to count on a 066/7 power unit which must never break again after the interventions that Enrico Gualtieri’s staff implemented after the three failures last year.

New lighter chassis
The body is completely new: Fabio Montecchi has revised the suspension attachments which have the same front push rod layout, but with slightly revised kinematic mechanisms to adapt to the new Pirelli tyres, equipped with a more rigid construction to reduce that annoying understeer which had conditioned the driveability last year. The chassis has also undergone a significant weight saving process, without reaching the 3 kg promised by some.

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Higher elements, sidepods more extreme
The mouth of the sidepods has maintained the Ferrari characteristic of 2022: the vents seem to have been raised by about ten millimeters, to the limit allowed by the location of the anti-intrusion cone. In Gestione Sportiva they have understood that it is necessary to increase the flow that arrives at the floor and therefore generate more downforce. The flaring under the sidepods is extreme and goes in the Red Bull direction, as is the tray that extends the lower lip.

Smaller radiators
Another element that allowed weight savings was the reduction of the radiator packs: last year the Ferrari F1-75 had kept a safety margin on the cooling system, so there was the opportunity to make the radiators extreme which have maintained the same forward inclined arrangement, however allowing a profile of the side more tapered towards the tail with an aerodynamic advantage.

Gills divided into two parts
In the upper part of the sidepods there is also the artistic excavation that made the F1-75 a work of art: also this year there are gills for the evacuation of hot air, but on the SF-23 the slits they are shallower, a sign that much attention has been paid to aerodynamic efficiency. There are four vents in the hollowed out part of the sidepods and they are recognizable by the carbon black and there are seven more in the vertical wall of the engine cover. This year the bodywork is modular so the openings can be modified according to the characteristics of the tracks and weather conditions. Not even the periscope air vent under the attack of the Halo escapes.

With a sidepod that tapers better to the engine cover it has been possible to have a vertical wall on the sides of the engine: in this way the beam wing works better, increasing the suction effect from the rear extractor with a consequent increase in downforce that does not cost in terms of resistance to progress.

Triangular and small airbox
The airbox is very small and triangular in shape: the obligation to review the crash values on the roll-hoop after Zhou’s terrifying crash with the Alfa Romeo did not affect the chassis makers who reduced the intake range engine air. The two vertical fins in the shape of horns have remained on the sides of the airscope. Ferrari has maintained a very slender and small engine hood, not having adopted the “bazooka” at the root of the engine cover which is characteristic of all the others. The centreboard that acts as a fin has remained unpainted: a clearly visible choice in other parts of the single-seater in terms of weight savings (even the side has a large non-red surface).

Narrower gearbox
The gearbox is new not only because of the 10 mm increase that the FIA has imposed on the elbow of the diffuser: the new box was necessary both for aerodynamic reasons and for mechanical reasons. The carbon drivetrain casing is narrower than that of the F1-75, but also houses several rear suspension mounts.

Multilink rear suspension
Ferrari has not repudiated the pull rod scheme, however adopting more extreme and less traditional solutions: for the first time there is no upper triangle which has given way to two multi-link arms, converting to concepts that we appreciated on Red Bull and Mercedes.

The lower triangle is oriented towards the front and the rear arm is faired with the axle shaft, while the multi-link arms work further back like the toe arm.

Front suspension with low track road
If we want to stay on the subject of suspensions, let’s move on to the front: we have already anticipated that the layout has remained push rod, but the anchors and arms are of a different design, switching to a configuration with a low track road while it was high: the rear triangle arm upper is much lower and the intention is to laminate the flow towards the floor thanks to carbon covers that become the first flow diverters. The steering arm has remained aligned with the upper arm, maintaining a known system.

An aspect that could not be seen in the presentation, but which we anticipate concerns the carbon disks in the front corners. On the F1-75 the external element also contained what covered the Brembo disc. On the SF-23, Ferrari separated the two parts, being able to afford evolutions that were less constrained in the design and adopting solutions more similar to those of the competition.

Shorter snout and front wing
The nose is different from the already very nice one of the F1-75: the refinement work can be observed by noting the nose that rests on the second flap, while it was longer. From first observation it appears to be narrower and scooped into the V below. The front wing has a new design with the main profile separated from the rest of the wing: Ferrari looks for the outwash effect with the curvature of the flaps towards the side bulkhead which on the outside adopts a band that is no longer straight but arched. It is striking that the adjustable flap is connected to the third element with five supports, re-proposing a solution that the FIA had rejected for Mercedes after it was shown in Austin and banned in Mexico.

Ferrari lettering on the rear wing
The rear wing is supported by two pillars with swan necks which are a characteristic of the House: the aspect that certainly satisfies the Prancing Horse fans is the eye-catching white Ferrari lettering that was so popular on the F1-75 in the Italian GP .