Photo: Ferrari Media
The 2023 season was supposed to be, at least in expectations, the year in which Ferrari would fight against Red Bull to win the world championship. Instead, to date, the Scuderia’s awakening after a winter of great expectations has been tough, considering the disappointing results of the first two rounds of the championship.
A first part of season in which Ferrari appeared in difficulty, both in Bahrain and in Jeddah, due to a slow SF-23 which showed a lack of downforce and tyre management problems.
Problems which, as reported by the Italian website ‘Motorsport.com’, the Cavallino’s technicians have identified in a lack of data correlation between the simulations and the track and which they would like to find a solution (to return to at least second force in the field) bringing a B version of the SF-23 for the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola.
Upgrades which, according to the Italian magazine, will affect many areas of the car: a new floor to generate more downforce, a new suspension to obtain the anti-squat effect and keep the car at a constant height from the ground and new sidepods, an important area where to find performance in this new generation of single-seaters.
“The interventions that Enrico Cardile will affect several aspects: a new floor and a rear suspension, for a better control of the height from the ground thanks to the anti-squat effect. But the SF-23 is also destined to change in terms of shape, so we expect an intervention on the sidepods.”
And the major upgrades will be seen precisely in the central area of the car, as it seems that the technical staff will bring different shapes in the area of the bodywork, to maximise downforce, reduce drag and also allow the SF-23 to run close to the ground, generating downforce and not having porpoising.
“Certainly the design that made the red unique will not remain. The goal is to make the Ferrari work at the right height from the ground, in line with that measured in the wind tunnel: the reds technicians had concentrated a lot on reducing drag to advancement, not taking porpoising into account.”
Updates which, in fact, has been deliberated after the disappointing first two races of the season and which will modify the original development plan as well as, inevitably, consuming a large part of the Ferrari budget foreseen for 2023.
“At Ferrari they preferred to put their hand in their wallet to start the evolution of the red that will gobble up a good part of the resources granted by the budget cap.”
