When the present holds more bitterness than joy, fantasizing about a rosy future becomes the quickest shortcut to healing wounds. From this perspective, Scuderia Ferrari stands unique, because even though it rarely replicates pre-season goals on the track, it never ceases to instill hope in its fans. Unfortunately, the history of Formula 1 is not rich in abrupt turnarounds, and envisioning a victorious Ferrari in 2024 is pure misinformation at this stage.
For far too long, the men in Maranello believed in their aerodynamic concept introduced with the F1-75. The change of direction that occurred during the Spanish Grand Prix was the first of many adjustments to the SF-23, which is, in every sense, a laboratory car.
A car conceived based on rationales that were reset by technical directive 039 and now seeks to embrace Red Bull’s guidelines. A hybrid project that must be completely overhauled for 2024. Unfortunately, aerodynamics are not a smartphone cover but a component of a complex system that includes the chassis, suspension system, and much more that must work in symbiosis. Last but not least, the team that will design project 676 is the same one that engineered this season’s car, modified due to the defections of those who chose to find better fortune in the competition, like former head of aerodynamics David Sanchez, who moved to McLaren.
While Ferrari navigates with uncertainty, Red Bull, as acknowledged by Christian Horner, has announced a “freeze” on the development of the RB19 to focus on next season’s project. A show of strength from those who are aware of their ability to dominate until the end of the season without making any modifications to the 2023 project until November.
Probably, the competition can regain ground on the Milton Keynes car by continuing to develop their respective projects. A tactic similar to the one put into practice last year when the Mercedes double at Interlagos fooled the Anglo-German team into thinking they had matched the performance of the RB18 through stubborn faith in the zero-sidepods concept. A trick that became evident during the winter tests in Bahrain when the Mercedes W14 was trailing the same distance behind the Red Bull Racing’s fierce rivals as the W13″B.”
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For the red team, the final stint of the season will serve to provide feedback for project 676. The men from Maranello are desperately searching for performance balance that isn’t reliant on circuit geometry and tire management over the race distance. Meanwhile, Fred Vasseur is engaged in rebuilding the internal organization of the racing department: “You always need to improve and always change things. If you stay with the same structure for two years in a row, you’re dead because everyone else will improve. It means I don’t have a clear picture that allows me to say I have to do this, and that’s it, and it will work. That would be foolish. In the coming weeks, months, and years, we will make changes, because some issues are longer than others. But it’s an evolution and continuous improvement.”
Once upon a time in Maranello, there was dynamic stability, a term coined by President Luca di Montezemolo. A continuity guaranteed by the presence of absolute value managers like Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, James Allison, and Aldo Costa, which did not exclude the insourcing of technicians of equal caliber. Today, it’s difficult to identify a figure of the same stature within the current ranks of the red team. A workgroup that, after many years, has shown its virtues (few) and its weaknesses. It’s like asking a mid-table Serie A team to win the league championship.
Therefore, it’s much better to be realistic and not indulge in implausible hypotheses. The journey towards the summit of the Prancing Horse will be long and cannot disregard top-tier profiles that are currently absent from the Ferrari Racing Division.
