Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari
After the unsuccessful Monaco GP, Ferrari is looking for redemption, continuing to work on the development of the SF-23. Work that will lead to the introduction of new developments: mirror supports, floor and sidepods.
It was a negative weekend at the Monaco GP for Ferrari. A weekend to which the Scuderia arrived confident that they could fight for pole position and victory alongside teams like Aston Martin and Red Bull.
Expectations which, however, were disregarded given that the SF-23 appeared slow, difficult to drive and with tyre problems, never expressing itself at the desired performance levels comparable to its rivals. A weekend which, the way it ended, caused discontent in the team and among the drivers, given the awareness of having missed the (perhaps unique) opportunity to score the first victory of the season.
An anomalous behavior, perhaps too much, to be justified only by the chronic defects of the SF-23, but which generated a painful flop. A flop that in Maranello they are determined not to repeat, both by improving the working methods and by continuing to develop the single-seater.
Development work which, as you know, will bear fruit in the next Spanish GP. In fact, after the cancellation of the Imola GP had delayed its introduction, finally on the SF-23 there will be the long-awaited developments.
The hope is that they can at least be in the role of second force in field. News that, from the first photos circulated, concern three areas of the car: sidepods, floor and rear-view mirrors.
On the sidepods, work has been done in search of greater aerodynamic efficiency and different management of air flows to generate downforce. To reduce drag in the area below the radiator vents, new bodywork has been added, which is more adherent to the mechanics and to the anti-intrusion cone to maximise the undercut and increase the air flow towards the bottom.
Sidepods which at least from the visible photos (everything will be clearer tomorrow), have also been modified at the rear, now more adherent to the mechanics (with consequent modifications to the cooling system) and with a different shape: they should no longer have the excavation in the upper area but should be more similar in concept to Red Bull, gradually descending towards the rear area of the floor in search of the down-wash effect.
Also in the sidepods area, new rear-view mirror supports have been introduced, unchanged in shape but revised in the upper area of the mirror, where the “lip” has been shortened, probably to improve the management of turbulence and flow towards the rear wing.
Also on the floor, in addition to the innovations introduced in Miami, improvements have appeared. The area of the floor in front of the rear wheel has been changed, no longer straight and squared. The current version has an increasing trend towards the rear tyre, an increased section and a slot before the trailing edge (perhaps to manage the tire squirt phenomenon). Not only that, because a small blowhole has also appeared in the middle area of the floor. Furthermore, the toe rod has also been repositioned to manage the deflection of the bottom in a different way compared to the old solution.
The upgrades are not including, unlike what had been said in recent weeks, the new rear suspension. Was it an invention of the media or just a postponed upgrade so as not to put too much meat on the fire?
