Describing the start of the 2023 Formula One season for Scuderia Ferrari as disastrous is perhaps still an understatement. After a very promising start last championship, the Maranello team has lost its way and hasn’t recovered since the introduction of the TD39. This project, the evolution of the previous one, is showing its flaws. In Monte Carlo, a circuit considered favorable by the Maranello team, the SF-23 disappointed by finishing the race behind Alpine. In Monte Carlo, we could also see the simplicity of the SF-23’s floor compared to the competition.
In the last event, we saw Mercedes definitively deviate from their aerodynamic concept – zero sidepods – in favor of more conventional side pods. In Maranello, the belief that the SF-23 has untapped potential remains, as emphasized by Team Principal Frederic Vasseur: “Our problem is consistency in the race because, except perhaps in Jeddah, we have always been fighting for pole position. In Miami, for example, the first stint of the race was good, while in Monaco, we couldn’t show it because we got stuck behind Ocon. We need to find consistency because our car often changes behavior, even from corner to corner.” – the French manager pointed out.
Ferrari SF-23: In Barcelona, a new development direction to find race consistency
The updates from Ferrari were expected and have arrived in Spain, without delays, but rather ahead of the initial plan. In Monte Carlo, all eyes were on Mercedes, and now it’s up to Maranello to respond in order to turn their season around and try to close the gap, not only to Red Bull but also, and above all, to Aston Martin and Mercedes in the race.
The technicians led by Enrico Cardile have worked significantly on a package that will partially revise the concepts on which the SF-23 was designed, a car developed from a base that was the F1-75. Carlos Sainz announced it after Miami, talking about Spain as a stage where Ferrari would test a “new development direction” to address the limitations of this project. When asked about the matter, Frederic Vasseur explained what Ferrari is seeking from these developments: “The intention is not to add aerodynamic load but to make it more consistent and put it in a better operating window.” These are the same comments Mercedes made before introducing their development package.
In Brackley, they intervened on the side pods and on the front and side areas of the floor (fences and curbs), but also on the front suspension with an intelligent solution to benefit from an anti-dive effect without having to homologate a new chassis (impossible during the current season, under the budget cap). On the other hand, Ferrari has mainly focused on the aerodynamic aspect. The Frenchman, in his latest statements, has indeed denied the arrival of a new front and/or rear suspension. “We won’t have a new front suspension (…) I don’t know who talked about a new rear suspension, certainly not me,” he said in response to questions from various colleagues.
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The SF-23 is changing: new side pods, revised floor, and a modification to the mirrors
One of the problems of the SF-23, which has led to a lack of consistency in the race, is related to the ride heights once the 100 kg of fuel are loaded. The updates brought to Spain will further alleviate these issues. The Italian team is abandoning the particular and ‘unique’ inwash solution used since the first specification of the F1-75, further developed on the current season’s car, in favor of a hybrid solution that also resembles other cars, with the now well-known downwash effect introduced on track for the first time by Red Bull. The engine cover has also been revised, and despite all these changes, the Power Unit cooling system has not undergone any modifications, as explained by F1 experts Piergiuseppe Donadoni and Paolo D’Alessandro for formu1a.uno.
Since they cannot renew the suspension and chassis, the side pods do not feature the important lower undercut seen on most cars nowadays. This is due to a significant limitation related to the position of the intruder cone (SIS), not integrated into the floor but positioned much higher (see illustration above). However, Ferrari has worked to try to expand it compared to the previous solution, to the point that the SIS fairing is even more evident.
Officially, due to the budget cap, Ferrari will focus on evolving the aerodynamics of the SF-23, without having planned any developments to the front and rear mechanics to date, except for the latter with an update to the dampers that will make its debut at Montmelo.
The other important novelty of the package relates to the car floor, which has been largely revised, while the changes to the rearview mirrors (the upper fairing has been shortened) and the appendages positioned behind the Halo protection system are of lesser importance. The floor returns to a solution already seen on last season’s F1-75, namely the hole in front of the rear wheels, and with the new specification of side pods, it has a much less exposed surface at the rear. This is because the airflow towards the upper part of the diffuser will now come from the downwash of the side pods and no longer from the inwash present in the previous solution. The new evolutionary package is currently only installed on Carlos Sainz’s SF-23, with Ferrari not ruling out comparative tests between the two packages in today’s free practice sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya.
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