A disastrous start of the championship for the Cavallino team and their driver Charles Leclerc, forced to retire at lap 39 of the Bahrain GP while holding third place.
In its debut the SF-23 has already showed its fragility, indicating that there are obvious shortcomings and details that urge to be investigated and resolved.
The causes that led to the stop of the Monegasque single-seater are still unknown, Scuderia Ferrari mechanics are in fact still analyzing the possible issues, but from a first analysis Leclerc’s stop seems to be due to an electrical problem: the control unit has in fact gone on tilt and the power unit has gone out, forcing the Ferrari driver to pull over and end his race prematurely.
Already in the morning of the race there was the scent of problems, in fact in the car had been replaced the battery of the ERS system, which was also followed by the precautionary rotation of the control unit.
Precaution that unfortunately did not lead to anything, a sign that the cause is to be found elsewhere.
It is not to be excluded that there was an electrical current dispersion in a wiring and suddenly the electronics went into crisis, perhaps as a result of the strong vibrations on a track like Sakhir’s or temperatures that may have burned a wire.
Nor can it be ruled out that it was a human error according to the Italian part of Motorsport.com, since the components that go in the car are checked by the quality department, so there may have been an assembly error.
These doubts will be replaced by answers only after the disassembly of the individual components, a process not easy and not fast either, but fortunately the team will have some time available before the next appointment in Jeddah.
But the consequences that could derive are not pleasant: if the control units have been burned, Leclerc will be demoted positions on the starting grid.
However, the SF-23 showed also other weaknesses, the race pace was in fact disappointing. Regarding this Fred Vasseur, Ferrari Team Princiapal, clearly explained that the causes it’s not to be researched in the single-seater’s design, but in the choice of configuration for Sakhir’s track.
The too low aerodynamics in search of efficiency and top speeds have payed for the lack of grip in the rear tires, the consumption of which was also amplified by Bahrain’s abrasive asphalt.
Therefore Scuderia Ferrari opens the 2023 championship in fourth place, behind Red Bull, an unexpected Aston Martin and Mercedes. But from what we could see, the most important race SF-23 has to win right now is against reliability.
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
