A Ferrari that needs to change, and a lot
There Ferrari he concluded 2023 in third place in the Constructors' standings, just a whisker behind Mercedes, thus worsening his position compared to 2022 when the Scuderia from Maranello finished in second place behind the elusive Red Bull. The number of stage victories also dropped drastically, going from four victories to one, the consolation, however, is that of having been the only team to oust Red Bull from the top step of the podium in a Sunday Grand Prix (Oscar Piastri succeeded in Qatar with McLaren, but on Saturday in the Sprint).
The SF-23 tried to resolve the weak points of the F1-75, but the performance gain was insufficient compared to what Red Bull achieved, which by taking a few more kilos off the RB18 had in the RB19 a car that was clearly superior to the competition. The attempt by the Maranello technicians to improve the performance of the 2022 car in slow corners was successful, but the price to pay was the loss of aerodynamic load in medium-fast corners. The result was also to obtain a more car understeering compared to the F1-75, a feature that has been labeled as a step in the direction of Carlos Sainz compared to Charles Leclerc, who instead favors oversteering cars.
Interviewed by the Spanish newspaper AS Carlos Sainz he stated that he disagrees with those who claim that the SF-23 was right for him: “It has been said that it is a car that suits me, that I like it – Sainz's words – honestly, it gave me some headaches, not just me. Even for my garage partner it was a difficult car to interpret. I didn't enjoy driving it, I had to adapt from different points of view. We understood immediately after the first three laps in testing in Bahrain that the SF-23 was a complicated car. For this reason I hope that the 2024 Ferrari changes a lot, I hope that it is a more versatile car, easier to drive and set up.”
#Ferrari #SF23 #tailormade #Sainz #Spaniard #disagrees
