The wait is – almost – over. In a few hours, Ferrari will officially present the SF-23, the 2023 single-seater with which Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will go in search of one or more titles that Maranello has been missing since 2008 (the Constructors’ World Championship) and 2007 (the Drivers’ title respectively).
A very long period without any titles and in order to break it the top management of the Prancing Horse tried to make a change of pace in the F1 Racing Division: since 9 January, the Maranello team is no longer led by Mattia Binotto, whose role as team principal and managing director of Scuderia Ferrari has been interrupted one year before the Italian manager’s contract ended.
To replace Mattia Binotto, president John Elkann and the managing director Benedetto Vigna have chosen Frederic Vasseur, who was appointed as team principal and general manager. Obviously, the SF-23 that will be unveiled today is the design of the technical organization that conceived the F1-75, a car that collected pole positions in 2022, scoring four victories (Ferrari had not won in Formula 1 since 2019). The single-seater that will be presented today will be lighter and more efficient from an aerodynamic point of view, but the real factor which is expected to make the difference is linked to the reliability of the power unit.
The engine built in Maranello in view of the power unit freeze that began last season impressed in terms of power and performance, but reliability problems forced Ferrari to reduce the power in the second part of the year, a necessary step backwards to preserve the integrity of the engines, but one which did not allow Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to challenge the Red Bull cars and even made it difficult for the F1-75 car to defend against the ‘comeback’ of Mercedes in the final part of the season. “We know very well where we need to intervene,” said Mattia Binotto in 2022 when asked about what was the weak point of the Ferrari power units, which are credited with 30 more horsepower in 2023 after the changes made during the winter, ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 championship.
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The data that emerged from the simulator relating to the SF-23 is more than promising, but we should not forger that simulations deluded Mercedes one year ago, as the German side was convinced that the W13 would be a car able to outperform the competition. Today, in addition to the presentation, a first filming day at Fiorano of 15 km is scheduled, while tomorrow Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will get to take to the track even longer, before the focus shifts to the Bahrain pre-season testing session.
The ‘passion driven’ event in which Ferrari will unveil the SF-23 will begin today at 11:25 AM CET, so see you soon to experience the ‘Ferrari-day’. You can watch the live car reveal here and follow ScuderiaFans.com for all the latest news and analysis of the Ferrari SF-23 challenger.
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