Ferrari’s technical analysis at the Bahrain GP. There is speed – Corriere.it

The Ferrari SF-23 left some unresolved doubts. All the spotlights were on the expected improvements over the weaknesses that the F1-75 had shown in the fight with Red Bull. We have not shown everything – said Leclerc – , adding: I think Red Bull will be slightly ahead. We don’t have pole potential but we will try. Starting from the most positive points we can expect Ferrari to catch up with Red Bull in terms of top speeds. A problem that weighed heavily on many duels last year.

Close the speed gap

The SF-23 has more efficiency and has recovered a large dose of horsepower, so much so that in tests it has reached 327 km/h or 15 km/h better than the 2022 tests. Let’s consider that in the lap that earned him the pole position of the Bahrain GP – a year ago – the Monegasque reached 317 km/h against the 322 km/h of the Red Bulls. Even more marked was the delay in Jeddah, where the second race will be held. On average, the seasonal gap consolidates within a range of about 6-11 km/h based on the runway and wing configurations used. To be clear, in testing no team uses the power unit at maximum power except for brief moments and with very worn tyres, certainly not on the fastest lap of the session. We can however acknowledge that the engagement was at least successful. On the Sakhir circuit, the SF-23 in the lab version (the one used for testing) was 1.3 seconds faster on the straight and lost 3 tenths of a second in corners compared to the previous car.

The search for aerodynamic load

Something the technicians expected, a performance difference that shows a clear philosophical choice. After all, you can improve the load – provided that the developments are consistent – while a single-seater with excessive resistance to forward movement can be incurable. Overall, these data are strictly related to the load of the car. Despite the regulatory modifications to the fund, the SF-23 seems to have recovered the load of the F1-75 with equal wings, however what they will have to work on in Maranello is balance. In other words, going faster in every area of ​​the track and bringing developments that help riders to be aggressive. The new car showed again an abnormal bounce in the curves at high speed forcing the engineers to raise the bottom and increase the stiffness.

Fighting porpoising

Porpoising (HERE what it is) has not completely disappeared and must be managed carefully because it dramatically increases the degradation of the rear tires. Ferrari must work to be able to set the car as low as possible and raise the overall load, so as not to be surprised again by excessive tire wear. The horses and the tools to do it are there, in the qualification (HERE for timetables and TV) we will have the first answers. The SF-23 may not be perfect yet but it will be faster than the F1-75. We’ll understand from this weekend if he will also be strong enough to annoy the Red Bulls or if he will have to commit to keeping Alonso’s Aston Martin and the Mercedes at bay. The free practices gave a partial view of the Ferrari’s strength, some solutions were discarded such as the monopilon rear wing. Many others are in the pipeline, the championship long and Bahrain only the first stage.