Ferrari’s uphill start to the year immediately put the team under fire. Fred Vasseur spent his first few weeks at Ferrari defending the team and avoiding any controversy with previous management. He was unwavering in his faith in the Maranello car, which only delivered pace in rare flashes.
Barcelona was the first positive step, where the evolved SF-23 was brought to the track, the start of a new accelerated development path after the negative information from the three days of testing in Bahrain.
Enrico Cardile and his staff thus changed the aerodynamic look of the SF-23 and tried to obtain a more coherent and consistent car. However, the growth path is not yet complete, at least as regards the current car.
Sainz and Leclerc pleased with Ferrari progress; Red Bull still far ahead
In Spain, the SF-23 was equipped with new sidepods and a new floor, specially modified in the sidewalk and in the part near the rear wheels, also to marry better with the new sidepods.
Another important package was then brought to the track in Austria, including a new front wing and bottom, revised in the front part, taking its cue from the concepts known on the Red Bull RB19 and on other cars such as the Aston Martin AMR23.
The progress at the Red Bull Ring was evident, at least on that type of track, but the work is far from finished.
“I’m proud of the work they’ve done in Maranello and the number of updates we’ve brought recently,” said Carlos Sainz, praising the team’s work at the factory.
Enrico Cardile now has more design freedom, after the departure of David Sanchez, and together with his staff, they are trying to revive the SF-23 and lay better foundations for 2024.
“What surprised and made me happy was the team’s reaction after such a negative start to the season. It was incredible, and I never had any doubts that we were on the right track,” reiterates Charles Leclerc.
In Austria, the Scuderia introduced a package of novelties three weeks ahead of the schedule, thanks to a considerable effort at the factory.
At the Red Bull Ring, the SF-23 performed well – outperforming Mercedes and Aston Martin – taking advantage of a favourable track, but the answers will have to continue and also come from Silverstone.
Development continues: New beam wing at Silverstone, question marks over the new New Pirelli tyres
“This track could be less easy than Spielberg because it will highlight our weak points more, with the many fast corners present,” said Charles Leclerc, who remains positive heading into this weekend.
“It will be important to confirm the improvements made in this type of corner. If we do well here too, it means that we are on the right track,” added Carlos Sainz.
He also emphasized another weak point of the SF-23 which he hopes to confirm and see progress:
“Usually, we are very sensitive to wind, and here it’s very open, and there’s wind, we’ll see if we’ve improved in this, as well as when we’re in the slipstream.”
The goal is to be in the fight with Mercedes and Aston Martin, certainly not to beat Red Bull, on a track where the SF-23 at the start of the season would most likely have risked being doubled by the RB19.
At Silverstone, the Scuderia will bring some innovations to the track, but not an important package, such as a new beam wing biplane for medium-low load, which incorporates concepts seen on Red Bull and Alpine already from last year, also seen on the Mclaren MCL60 from Baku.
“We won’t have much news this weekend,” Leclerc himself revealed.
However, the Monegasque himself confirmed Ferrari’s plans which, even without other large packages, will not end the development of the 2023 car prematurely
“With the other updates that will arrive, we hope to be able to reduce the gap with Red Bull even further,” explained Charles Leclerc – insisting on calm for the short and long term.
Not much has been said, at the moment, about the new Pirelli tyres. In fact, when asked about the story at a press conference, Leclerc gave a clearly vague answer.
Instead, the first to confirm the rumours we had collected last week in the Spielberg paddock was Checo Perez:
“I think this new tire construction is done to favour some teams,” the Mexican told us.
“I think someone will improve. I don’t know if it will be us or other teams, but there is definitely a characteristic change in the rubber, especially in the high-speed corners.
“So it will be interesting to see what happens with the degradation as well because we didn’t do much work on that when we tested them.” This question mark will stay over the teams this weekend.
Author: Paolo D’Alessandro , Piergiuseppe Donadoni & Giuliano Duchess
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
