Ferrari continues to work off-track. In Maranello, there is no intention of giving up on 2023. The final rounds before the summer break (after introducing updates in Spain) will be a critical period for understanding the SF-23 and establishing the necessary foundations for the future, including the 2024 season.
The 675 project for next year is underway, and the technical department must decide – with conviction – the path to follow in terms of aerodynamics. For this reason, after a more than disappointing and negative start to the season, the factory worked on bringing aggressive updates to the track, which mark a different development direction.
In Barcelona, we saw some new sidepods, which serve to modify the aerodynamic macro concept of the SF-23, as well as fundamental innovations.
However, the novelties updates are not finished: n Austria, we will see some novelties that were initially planned for the next GPs. All to go to the summer break with clear ideas and the attempt to see confirmed, on the track, if the path taken is really the correct one.
Ferrari on track at Fiorano: A second filming day, at the request of Cardile
Ferrari and enthusiasts remember well how the Prancing Horse often took advantage of the second permitted filming day of the season. The first was used for the shakedown of the car at the beginning of the year to test the low-load package to be used over the Monza weekend.
The home circuit is a fundamental stage for the men in Red, where doing well is certainly more important than the other race weekends.
However, the introduction of the budget cap has made these circuit-specific packages less and less visible, with the teams tending to reuse what is already used on similar circuits, with the example of Monza precisely where we saw wings already appear in Baku.
This year, however, the direction taken is different, not only in terms of development and set-up. Frederic Vasseur has pushed the technical department to speed up development to react to the negative patch the team is experiencing, and the team has promptly reacted to this.
As we anticipated, Enrico Cardile wanted to bring the new fund designed for the SF-23 to the track as soon as possible, requesting the possibility of exploiting the second filming day behind the Gestione Sportiva. This is to arrive in Austria with some data ahead of a weekend that will be impacted by the Sprint Race.
With only an hour of FP1 available, being able to cover 100 km (one-third of a GP) on a track known as Fiorano will certainly be a help for the Ferrari technicians, carrying out a sort of ‘shakedown’ for these important innovations.
Carlos Sainz brought the new front wing to the track at Fiorano
Ferrari started its work at Fiorano early in the morning, around 9. The many fans, together with the SF-23, were also able to see the Hypercar that won at Le Mans run.
However, attention was entirely paid to the car of Carlos Sainz, the first of the two Ferrari drivers to take to the track – given that Charles Leclerc will also do a few laps at Fiorano this afternoon, from around 2 pm.
The Spaniard began his work with the first three runs without any changes to his SF-23, which appeared in the ‘Canada’ configuration. The initial trip was to check the correct operation of the systems and the car, and then a long stop in the pits, giving the team time and opportunity to proceed with the assembly of the expected new features.
Around noon he took to the track again, bringing the first novelty in the pipeline to its debut, namely the new front wing. In the two comparison photos, you can see the main differences between the two specifications.
The shape of the endplate has changed throughout, now less squared and more rounded in the front part, with the internal deflector that no longer has that ‘wavy’ shape but sees an initially almost horizontal profile and then points upwards.
There are also modified flaps and a new main plane. The flaps now slope towards the endplate in a more uniform manner, with the characteristic wavy shape that is much less accentuated. Meanwhile, on the inside, the profiles (especially the former) in the new specification descend more downwards in the connection area with the muzzle.
As for the main plane, the position of the blowhole has been revised, and this can be clearly seen from the comparison photo relating to the endplates.
Authors: Paolo D’Alessandro & Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
