F1 | Ferrari made lighter: the 676 will reach its weight limit

The Ferrari psychosis has broken out and is spreading. It seems that whatever is written about the Cavallino team in this winter phase must be fake news, on which the “keyboard lions”, but also some authoritative (until yesterday) commentators have indulged in a single thought, so the Scuderia is unable to produce a car capable of competing with Max Verstappen's unbeatable Red Bull.

The superiority of the world champion team in 2023 was disconcerting with the RB19's 21 victories out of 22 races: it is easy to predict, therefore, that the Dutch driver's world championship triptych will turn into a poker, but nowhere is it written that Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren (not necessarily in this order) cannot get close to the RB20, since the regulations have not changed and the tires will also be the same.

In Maranello they don't talk about performance: no one dares to make a comparison of the 676 with the SF-23, although the wind tunnel and simulator data in the eyes of the technicians are clear, very clear. From the Sport Management, however, some elements emerge that are indicative of an important change: the 2024 red car that we will see at Fiorano in the presentation on 13 February seems to have reached a project target that the staff directed by Enrico Cardile has insistently sought.

The Ferrari 676 is expected to go under the minimum weight limit for the first time since the ground effect single-seater regulations were launched. It appears that the SF-23 started last season with around 6kg more than the 798kg set by FIA technical regulations.

Let's be clear, Red Bull will also go under the limit and will be able to move some ballast that has never been seen on the RB19, but the red Bull's slimming down will be a key to the leap in quality: as long as the first car is not assembled it will be difficult to establish the actual weight, but the refinement work carried out was painstaking and involved almost all aspects of the car.

The body has been lightened, as has the new, narrower gearbox to accommodate a larger diffuser. Interventions were also made on the hub holders and on the hybrid system with a battery closer to the minimum weight. We know that ten kilos in F1 are worth about three tenths on a circuit like Barcelona and, therefore, the weight alone should be worth more than a tenth and a half on the lap time.

The beneficial effect should not be limited to pure performance, but also to the protection of Pirelli tyres, another area of ​​development they have worked hard on in Maranello.