How Ferrari took advantage of a quirk in F1 rules and avoided wasting filming day. How Ferrari took advantage of a quirk in F1 rules.

Being able to test in Formula 1 is a real luxury these days, as compared to two decades ago. Now F1 teams have the chance to hit the track only in the short winter pre-season testing sessions, the official race weekend practice sessions and some occasional in-season Pirelli tyre tests, as well as rookie tests.

In addition to this, the teams are allowed to take to the track for a 100km run using their present car for commercial reasons as part of a ‘Promotional Event’ (also known as a filming day). The teams therefore collect media content to use it for their partnerships with various sponsors, which is usually how they spend their post-car launch shakedown.

Scuderia Ferrari did not even have to capitalize on some loophole or grey area in the current Formula One rules and regulations, because the Maranello team found a very smart capability in the rules which gives them the possibility to avoid wasting their allowance for a filming day.

Ferrari run SF-23 challenger in ‘demonstration event’
According to the rules, teams also have the ability to take part in a short ‘Demonstration Event’ for current-year single-seaters, despite the fact that these cannot exceed a total distance of 15km.

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The Maranello team’s drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, completed five laps around the 2.997km Maranello test race track on Tuesday, with the laps being split between the two: the Monegasque was the first to drive the SF-23 and covered two laps, while his Spanish teammate then got behind the wheel of the 2023 Ferrari F1 car to cover three more laps, therefore making sure the team remains below the maximum limit. At the same time, the Italian side used this moment to create a special show for the car launch, in front of thousands of Tifosi who were invited to enjoy the event from a special grandstand at the Fiorano track.

Despite the fact that this was a limited amount of running, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz confirmed they were able to provide some initial feedback to their engineers even before the real 100km of running and the official winter pre-season testing session which is scheduled to take place next week at the Bahrain International circuit.