British former racing driver and current Sky Sports commentator, Martin Brundle, feels it is “a bit odd” that Scuderia Ferrari did not manage to identify the correct set-up for their SF-23 challenger in terms of race pace at the Bahrain International Circuit in the first round of the 2023 Formula One championship, despite the fact that Ferrari, just like the rest of the teams, had the opportunity to run at the Sakhir circuit for three days during the winter pre-season testing session, which took place one week before the start of the 2023 F1 campaign.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur was asked about the huge pace deficit seen on Sunday between the SF-23 car and the Red Bull RB19 single-seater in the Bahrain Grand Prix and the French manager explained that his side did not perfect how the SF-23 would perform in racing conditions, after getting close to Red Bull in the qualifying session on Saturday.
Despite the fact that Charles Leclerc was running in P3 behind the Red Bull drivers and was heading to a podium finish before he had to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix due to a power unit issue, both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were able to build a solid gap at the top, as the Monegasque driver did not have the pace to challenge them for the race win, despite overtaking the Mexican driver at the start.
Carlos Sainz eventually finish fourth in the other SF-23 car, after being overtaken by a much faster Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso in the final stages of the Sakhir race, as the Maranello team now seems to be involved in a fight against the Silverstone-based team for second place behind Red Bull rather then challenging the Austrian side for the world titles.
Yet considering the fact that Ferrari had three full days to test the SF-23 car at the Bahrain International Circuit just a few days ahead of the race weekend, and could also use the three free practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, ex-Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle feels it was somewhat “odd” for the Italian side to have not perfected their single-seater’s set-up for this first round of the season, as justified by the Ferrari team principal when asked why the Maranello team was not able to match Red Bull.
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“It was a disappointing weekend for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc retiring when on course for third place after an apparent issue with the electrical system in his Ferrari power unit,” Martin Brundle explained in his first post-race column for Sky Sports F1 in 2023 – “Leclerc’s failure came after Ferrari had to change the Energy Store (battery pack) in his car before the race, which was a surprise given you only have the use of two of those through the season before penalties kick in.” – he explained.
“As for their general lack of race pace compared to the Red Bulls, they’re saying it was down to the car set-up in race trim, but after three relentless days of testing in Bahrain and then a three-day GP weekend, it seems a bit odd that the set-up wasn’t close to optimal. Carlos Sainz struggled a little throughout the event and will be looking forward to putting that right next week in Saudi Arabia. Ferrari still look the closest challengers to Red Bull in this phase though.” – the Sky Sports commentator concluded.
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