Numbers behind Ferrari’s 2023 progress after F1 summer break. Ferrari has shown a clear change of pace after the summer break, recovering a significant 53 points from Mercedes.

The Maranello team has shown a clear change of pace after the summer break, recovering a significant 53 points from Mercedes.

Narrow Missed Comeback

The penalty incurred by Sergio Perez in the final part of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix prevented Ferrari from completing the comeback to the second position in the Constructors’ Championship. However, it can be said that the Maranello team ended 2023 on a high note. Not only was the Prancing Horse the only team capable of breaking Red Bull’s winning streak in the championship, but in the last five races of the year, they secured four podiums—one with Sainz and three with Leclerc—that bode well for the future.

The final third-place finish in the team championship—marking a step back from 2022—was mainly due to the first half of the season. After the Spanish GP, the seventh round of the season, Ferrari was fourth in the standings, trailing Mercedes by -52 points. The situation improved step by step, reaching the final -3 in Abu Dhabi, influenced by several very unfortunate incidents, foremost among them the infamous drain cover incident in Las Vegas.

Before the summer break	After the summer break
GPs	12 (+3 Sprints)	10 (+3 Sprints)
Points obtained	191	215
Podiums obtained	3	6
Victories achieved	0	1
Position in standings	4th	3rd
Distance from 2nd place	-56	-3

Change of Pace After Summer

Overall, it’s after the summer break in Spa that the team led by Frederic Vasseur made a significant leap in performance. After the first 12 GPs, Ferrari was fourth with 191 points, trailing an Aston Martin that was already showing signs of decline. In the last 10 Grands Prix, they collected 215 points, 16 more than McLaren and a substantial 53 more than Mercedes. These numbers are encouraging for 2024, even though it’s impossible to ignore the still substantial gap to close in on Red Bull.

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In addition to Carlos Sainz’s fantastic victory at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore, it’s not surprising that Ferrari collected six out of the nine total podiums achieved in 2023 after the mid-season break. It’s also interesting to note how the Spaniard and Charles Leclerc perfectly shared the ‘work’ of the comeback in the last 12 races of the year, with #55 collecting 108 points and the Monegasque 107. This further indicates that, regardless of individual preferences, Maranello can rely on a rather reliable driver pairing.