Scuderia Ferrari ended the first day of 2023 Formula 1 pre-season testing session with a total of 136 laps thanks to the outings of Carlos Sainz in the morning session, followed by the runs of Charles Leclerc during the afternoon session at the Bahrain International Circuit. However, towards the end of the day, a few laps from the Monegasque proved to be very interesting for technical analysts in the paddock.
On the SF-23 of Charles Leclerc, attached to the chassis and front wing were several struts with cameras pointing towards the inside of the front-wing. Given the fact that this is a pre-season testing session, F1 teams have the possibility of experimenting with such solutions. As a result, the Maranello team wanted to evaluate the performance of the underbody of the SF-23 single-seater.
Thanks to the presence of the struts, the Italian side was able to control the distance of the front-wing from the ground, allowing Ferrari to collect important data regarding how the underneath of the car is performing, which is of vital importance taking into consideration the fact that this area is where most of the downforce is generated on the new generation of cars based on ground-effect that were introduced starting with the previous championship.
The idea is not something new, as Scuderia Ferrari took inspiration from the late 1980s and the Benetton B189. That car was designed by Rory Byrne who would later join the Italian side in when Michael Schumacher was racing for Ferrari.
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