2023 Ferrari car’s tire degradation appears worse than reality: Reports
The Scuderia has avoided low fuel loads on the car in a bid to avoid exposing its true tire degradation.
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Charles Leclerc, Pre-season testing
Scuderia Ferrari aims to finally have a successful F1 title bid in 2023. The Italian team has tried to sort out its struggles from the previous year. However, after Bahrain Pre-season test, there has been speculation over the tire degradation issues on the SF-23. The Scuderia has been working extensively on solving its tire degradation issues from the previous season.
La Gazella dello Sport has analyzed the runs of the SF23 and reported the tire degradation to be due to high fuel loads. They said, “It seems, in fact, that all the series of outings, even the short ones, were carried out with a constant fuel load, with top-ups of 35/40 kg,” The site reckons that Ferrari have avoided stints on low fuel. This in turn would make the tire degradation to be misleading in some cases.
The site also refers to comparing Ferrari‘s runs with Red Bull. They believe that the Scuderia might appear to have more tire wear than their Austrian team. They concluded, “Away from a comparison with Red Bull, the figure itself would not be too relevant, but considering that Red Bull’s individual stints have always been short, the direct comparison in terms of tire degradation could be less penalizing for the SF-23 than it seemed at the end of testing.”
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Ferrari suffered from high tire degradation in 2022. Consequently, Charles Leclerc was put on the back foot in terms of race strategy. Although the Monegasque driver recently stated his confidence in the team’s tire wear for this season. It appears that Maranello has cleverly tried to hide the car’s tire wear on lower fuel loads from the media and its rivals.
Ferrari’s arch-rivals Red Bull still look in better shape than the Prancing Horse. Max Verstappen dominated the Bahrain test in the new RB-19. However, the new Team Principal at Maranello, Fred Vasseur is not concerned regarding this situation. The Scuderia has completed all its planned running during the three days in Bahrain. Subsequently, the Italian squad looks all set to challenge Red Bull at the season opener this week.
It seems that Scuderia Ferrari might be in better shape than assumed by the paddock. The Prancing Horse has reportedly managed to hide its true tire degradation figures through higher fuel loads. Although, the reality of the situation can only be seen at the Bahrain Grand Prix when all the teams and drivers go head-to-head for the first time in 2023.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)