The difficulties of the beginning of the 2023 Formula 1 season
Ferrari was convinced that it had created a car, the SF-23, ready to complete the mission that the F1-75 failed in 2022 because it was held back by reliability problems, especially in terms of power unit. The track’s verdict in the first three races of 2023, on the other hand, was far too disappointing for the latest single-seater designed in Maranello, which currently has even fewer points in the standings than the 2020 SF-1000, even if there is no doubt that at the end of the season the SF-23 will have many more and will not be the sixth fastest car on the starting grid. For now it is the fourth, but the potential that has just surfaced so far in Qualifying and at times in the race is much higher. Therefore, the goal of the men led by Frederic Vasseur is to exploit it to the fullest.
To achieve this, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have already anticipated in Maranello, they are working hard to make the necessary corrections to the SF-23 to overcome unforeseen problems that emerged once they got out on the track. As the Spaniard reiterated, it won’t be a matter of a month or a race, patience is needed, but by the end of May the SF-23 will be ‘complete’ in terms of developments.
The road map according to Frederic Vasseur
At the recent press conference, the team principal of the Italian side pinpointed the update program planned for the SF-23 challenger: “Before the start of the season there is always a development plan. Then you need to adapt it according to the circumstances and the competitiveness of the car. We have brought some good updates to Melbourne and will continue in this direction. What we can do is try to speed up this process, perhaps taking a slightly different direction in terms of balance, but we can’t change the project. There are limits in the wind tunnel and starting from a blank sheet of paper is very difficult. We will adapt to the circumstances and invest all resources to speed things up. At Imola we will have the updates designed for Barcelona, so one or two races before. But you can’t change everything because of the budget cap.” – the French manger added.
The next aerodynamic updates on the SF-23, however, will not arrive before Miami, as confirmed by Frederic Vasseur:
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“We will have updates, but not in Baku, because there we will have the low-download package. We will make some adjustments to the aerodynamic balance, which was clearly better in Australia and we will continue in this direction. It won’t be a B car, the developments won’t be something radically different. We will continue to develop this car. The 2024 project? Since there is substantial continuity in terms of regulation, there is no need to divide too much between the two projects. The question to ask is more about the budget cap. Do we want to keep some primary components like the chassis and the gearbox next year? It is an aspect to be managed with the cost cap. As far as the development strategy is concerned, however, we will bring updates during the year and at that point we will evaluate whether to continue to evolve this concept or instead if we have to drastically change direction for next year” – the French manager concluded.
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