The morning session of the first pre-season testing day ended with the best lap time for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, as the Dutchman finished three tenths ahead of the Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to put his name on top of the timesheets in Sakhir. The reigning world champion prevailed, but the element that struck the most was a detail that was difficult to overlook on the SF-23 car of the Spanish driver.
In the first part of the testing session completed by Charles Leclerc’s teammate, the international cameras had filmed a strange flexion of the front nose of the SF-23, with Ferrari then admitting that this phenomenon not intentional and therefore it was not part of a precise operation studied by the Prancing Horse on the eve of the tests. In addition to generating concern among the fans of Ferrari, this phenomenon has added to another suspicion of a technical nature, namely the one linked to the S-Duct.
In this case, the FIA asked the Maranello team for clarification regarding the blowing ducts of the side pods adopted on the single-seater, with these capable of precisely creating the S-Duct, i.e. an aerodynamic solution that favors greater load at the rear. In this regard, Frederic Vasseur wanted to dispel any suspicions linked to the possible irregularity of the project during the press conference reserved for the team principals on Thursday: “As you may know, all the teams are in daily contact with the FIA, we have done exactly the same and there is no problem” – the French manager explained.
In this way, Frederic Vasseur confirmed the ‘green light’ from the International Federation regarding this solution, commenting at the same time on the first impressions after the morning test session: “It’s still very early – he added – but the first impressions were good. The most important thing was to cover many kilometers, we have not had any problems, we are able to do the race plan, everything is going well so far.” – the new Ferrari boss explained, as the Frenchman was then asked about the topic of porpoising:
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“In regards to porpoising, it’s something we’re also dealing with, like everyone else, but it’s not at all like it was a year ago when the car was bouncing like a kangaroo. Before Turn 1 and Turn 12 it’s bumpier than before, but that’s another problem.” – Frederic Vasseur concluded.
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