The Spa Francorchamps Grand Prix ended with Scuderia Ferrari seeing the glass half full. Of course, things need to be put into perspective. Charles Leclerc’s third-place finish was the best achievable result in the presence of an increasingly dominant Red Bull. However, in the “world of others,” the SF-23 stood out, securing its third podium of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Charles Leclerc is the only one who tasted champagne in the first twelve championship races. With two third-place finishes (Belgium and Azerbaijan) and a second place in Austria, the Monegasque is now ahead of his Maranello teammate, whose Belgian performance leaves the red glass container not entirely full.
There’s much to take from his retirement because, even if the race direction ruled the contact with Oscar Piastri as a normal racing incident, there’s a good share of blame on the Spanish driver. He hasn’t been shining in this 2023 Formula One campaign, despite the fervent and at times unjustified defenses from the Spanish press.
Thus, Maranello heads into the summer break with some added certainties after losing its way in more than one instance. Clearly, Frédéric Vasseur and his team aim to keep expectations in check. The work is just beginning, and there’s a long way to go before they can consider themselves firmly the second force in the championship. Charles Leclerc’s words are emblematic, once again emphasizing that the Italian car is an enigma. Hungary was supposed to be a friendly stop, but it turned into an endless ordeal.
Conversely, Spa Francorchamps wasn’t expected to highlight the car’s characteristics, but it performed quite well, both in qualifying and the race, as Mercedes seemed to have lost its edge. Lewis Hamilton tried with a couple of tactical undercuts but didn’t have the pace to keep up with the Red. Aston Martin, for a few races now, has fallen into a catatonic state, limiting its performance. McLaren, the big surprise in July, seems to have lost its way, perhaps due to an excess of confidence that should serve as a lesson for the future.
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For these reasons, some believe that Maranello should tread carefully because Spa Francorchamps presented exceptional circumstances that may not repeat. “Let’s be clear: I prefer not to consider Charles Leclerc’s third place as genuinely good news, but rather as a positive event that makes the summer break lighter,” expressed a realistic Jean Alesi.
“Indeed, it remains to be understood if and to what extent the race was subpar for Mercedes, while it was undoubtedly so for McLaren, which gambled on rain by fielding cars too heavy and slow on dry surfaces. I say this without overlooking the now permanent gap with Red Bull, which, by constantly observing it, makes us forget the true objective of a top team, namely victory,” concluded the former “27.”
Jean Alesi expressed a condensed clarity in an analysis that is much deeper than it may seem at first glance. Let’s start with McLaren. Excluding Oscar Piastri, whose race lasted only a few meters, Norris is the one on whom more concrete analyses can be made. The Englishman fell victim to the gamble, becoming a sacrificial pawn for those who thought they could make the move of the day by capitalizing on conditions that did not materialize. But that’s not all; the race was also conditioned by deficits in the car that still need to be addressed. Let’s see.
Through the substantial updates introduced to the MCL60 at the Austrian Grand Prix, the engineers in Woking found a high-load working point. However, the problem arises precisely from this factor since, at the moment, using setups with lower downforce means losing the advantages gained from the updates. Andrea Stella himself, on the sidelines of the Belgian weekend, made it known without much fanfare.
That’s why, according to information gathered by the editorial team of FUnoanalisitecnica, the next “corrections” will focus on improving the efficiency of the British car. A planned and gradual process aimed at further lowering lap times in the remaining 10 rounds of the 2023 racing campaign.
This condition, therefore, produced excessive resistance to progress (drag), which, on a track characterized by many full-throttle sections, made it impossible to counter the attacks of competitors who easily got the better of the English driver. At a certain point, he was even called back to the pits to allow him to run in clean air. Even the further gamble of using hard tires for the first stint did not prove decisive. It made the race quite a trial until the soft cover was installed, with which the MCL60 performed much better.
So, it’s as if McLaren shot itself in the foot. Mercedes, too, may have some technical and strategic justifications for a not very brilliant weekend. During the Belgian three-day event, AMG had to contend with an old enemy that was thought to be definitively defeated: porpoising. Just take a look at Lewis Hamilton’s onboard video of the fastest lap obtained on the final lap of the event.
Why did the limiting up-and-down movement reappear? The “blame” can be attributed to a mix of elements. The first is undoubtedly introducing aerodynamic updates on a weekend with only one free practice session. Little time to understand, few kilometers to find the right setup. The rest was left to fate. FP1 was practically canceled due to rain. Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s sprint were still affected by a changing track that didn’t allow for conclusive data to be collected and a suitable setup to be put together.
The W14, probably relying entirely on simulations conducted in Brackley, ran at too low a ride height or with a too flexible suspension configuration. The activation of the phenomenon didn’t help keep the tires in the right operating window and led to less effective braking. Furthermore, as can be clearly noticed in the third sector, it limited speed in the medium-fast corners.
The fact that this was a seasonal novelty explains how the condition is the result of specific elements that came together and may not reoccur. Hence the idea that Ferrari may have also benefited from others’ “misfortunes.” Of course, this does not diminish the team’s merits or belittle Leclerc’s great race; it’s just an attempt to view reality from a different perspective.
A result, Ferrari’s third place, that has not been typical of the 2023 Formula 1 championship. In Maranello, they know they are walking on eggshells, and that’s why they proceed with caution, confident that they are on the right path but humbly proceeding carefully.
Source: Diego Catalano for FUnoanalisitecnica
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