Scuderia Ferrari‘s performance in this start of the 2023 Formula 1 championship over the first two Middle East events has fans concerned that the SF-23 single-seater is slipping far behind its rivals, a disappointing and unexpected wake-up call following the encouraging reports and signals ahead of the season.
Carlos Sainz finished a distant sixth and teammate Charles Leclerc followed him in seventh place in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche circuit, which marked the second consecutive event that the Maranello team has completed without even reaching the podium. Red Bull unsurprisingly was the fastest car again, and by some margin, with Sergio Perez taking home the checkered flag and Max Verstappen following, easily overtaking the field after starting from P15. Fernando Alonso secured another third-place finish after a penalty was overturned, and the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton ended the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix fourth and fifth, respectively.
Scuderia Ferrari finished second in the 2022 Formula 1 constructor standings, which was the best result since the 2019 F1 campaign, one season before the Italian side completed its worst year in many decades, finishing the 2020 season in sixth place. After two rounds of the current season, Ferrari is behind Red Bull, Mercedes, and even Aston Martin, the latter facing accusations of having built a car eerily similar to Red Bull, which will clearly not be bothering them given the on track performance.
It’s obvious that Red Bull’s dominance is putting other top teams on edge, to say the least. Mercedes remains in disarray. As a result, Toto Wolff has confirmed that a radical new Mercedes Formula 1 car is in the works, as the German side is getting ready to abandon their unique car concept, which was introduced in 2022. Following issues in the winter pre-season testing session and being clearly drubbed by rvials Red Bull at the Bahrain International Circuit in the first race of the season, Mercedes immediately admitted that their current W14 design was in fact a wrong development choice.
Mercedes are said to be working on a major upgrade package for the W14, which will most likely be introduced at the Imola circuit in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with the goal of focusing on the sidepods and bringing them more into line with the class-leading RB19 perfectly designed by Red Bull this year.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Scuderia Ferrari has yet to get on track leading into the April 2 race in Australia at the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Circuit. Despite the fact that in 2022 Ferrari missed out on a podium finish in just six races, it’s already up to two in this season for the Maranello and as a result there has been a lot of panic that it’s slipping behind its rivals.
The Italian media has questioned whether Scuderia Ferrari should also make a move similar to Mercedes and decide to completely change its design philosophy, given the fact that the SF-23 car proved to be slower than the W14 at the Jeddah Corniche circuit. Journalist Franco Nugnes, the Editor in chief of Motorsport.com Italy, was asked if we could see a B-Version of the SF-23 this year: “It’s impossible with the budget cap, you can’t afford. But from the rumors we heard from Maranello, the 2024 [Ferrari] project will be in line with the project Red Bull.” – he explained
Basically what Italian journalist Franco Nugnes means is that from the rumors that they heard, the Ferrari concept for 2024 will be similar to the Red Bull design.
