A bitter 2023 Formula 1 campaign
It was supposed to be the year to ‘finish the job’ that had only just begun in 2022, the year that would bring the title back to Maranello after 16 years of waiting. Resolving the reliability issues of the power unit gave the Ferrari team the confidence of no longer fearing the technical failures that had dashed their dreams of glory at the beginning of the 2022 Formula One season with two wins in three races for Charles Leclerc. Instead, the verdict given by the track in the first third of the championship is extremely harsh for the SF-23.
The Red Bull RB19 has grown significantly to the point of winning all the races so far. Mercedes failed to persist with the no-sidepod aerodynamic concept and is now trying to make amends, as did Ferrari, but in Barcelona, no significant progress comparable to that of the W14 was observed.
Aston Martin, on the other hand, shuffled the cards by presenting an AMR23 that only “failed” in Barcelona but has consistently been on the podium with Fernando Alonso.
For now, Ferrari has only achieved one podium with Charles Leclerc, finishing third in Azerbaijan, the same number as Alpine’s podium finishes this year. Today’s edition of the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa unequivocally defines 2023 as ‘A wasted year’: “Ferrari’s 2023 is a year thrown away without any lessons or indications for the future. It’s another year zero: the engineers don’t understand the car they themselves have designed, and the drivers cannot drive it,” reads the article by Stefano Mancini.
“It feels like we’ve gone back to 2020, the last year with no victories in Maranello: Ferrari agrees to give up on some borderline regulatory solutions, and performance plummets.” This last reference relates to the power unit between 2019 and 2020 and the plank on the floor from 2022 to 2023, an element whose regulation changed during the course of the 2022 championship due to the anti-porpoising Technical Directive 039, which came into effect from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards.
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“2023 was seen as the year of possible victory. Never was a miscalculation so clear. The simulation systems yield exhilarating results, but the designers underestimate the work of their rivals. It’s supposed to be the good year, whispered during the presentation of the SF-23. The truth emerges during the winter tests in Bahrain, disguised as a passing problem,” the article continues. “Currently, the Prancing Horse is the fourth fastest car on track, as in the worst moments of its history. Rebuilding, but how? The times are long: opening a winning cycle requires years of consistent progress in the right direction and with a team renewed in key areas.” – Italian daily newspaper La Stampa pointed out.
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