Red Bull Racing Dutch driver Max Verstappen once again emerged victorious in 2023, this time at the Silverstone circuit in the British Grand Prix, with McLaren putting on a surprising performance. Unfortunately for them, due to the timing of the Safety Car, McLaren couldn’t fully capitalize on their potential and missed out on an incredible double podium finish. Lewis Hamilton finished ahead of Oscar Piastri in fourth place.
Mercedes, on the other hand, made the most of their opportunities, even at the expense of George Russell, who, like Oscar Piastri, had an unlucky encounter with the Safety Car.
However, before attributing everything to luck or misfortune, Scuderia Ferrari must take a serious look at themselves.
At Silverstone, the SF-23 showed promise, but issues during the second free practice session hindered its full potential. The British Grand Prix was meant to further assess the effectiveness of recent developments for the SF-23 single-seater. At the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Scuderia Ferrari demonstrated improvements in various areas, and this progress was indeed evident at Silverstone. Prior to the updates, expectations were not high, with the SF-23 expected to struggle against Mercedes and Aston Martin, possibly even threatened by Alpine given the track characteristics of the British racing track.
Notably absent from this discussion is McLaren, which had an excellent weekend showcasing the strengths of the MCL60 and benefitting from recent upgrades as well as the track conditions on Sunday. Ferrari, too, showed significant progress at Silverstone, including no more problems with bouncing.
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Therefore, when we analyze the pure performance of the Ferrari car, the weekend could be seen as a glass half full. However, the execution of the weekend limited the SF-23’s true potential, which unfortunately is not a new issue for the Scuderia.
Frederic Vasseur explained after the British Grand Prix: “The fact that Charles didn’t participate in the second free practice session due to an electrical problem was a setback for us.” He further pointed out that “we had a decent length long run, only with Sainz on Soft tires, and we were concerned about degradation, so we opted for the harder tires.” This reveals the Maranello team’s true weakness in the 2023 Formula One season.
