Ferrari claims 2023 car struggles will help develop a ‘brand new’ challenger next season
Ferrari have understood the weaknesses of the SF23.
Follow Us
Charles Leclerc at Circuit Zandvoort (image via IMAGO)
Scuderia Ferrari fell behind its rivals at the start of the 2023 F1 season. The Italian team proved no match for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Moreover, even Mercedes and Aston Martin have outperformed the Scuderia. Ferrari’s Head of Chassis, Enrico Cardile, claimed that the issues in the SF23 will help develop a more competitive car for next season.
Cardile insisted that Maranello has understood the weaknesses of its 2023 challenges in a tough first half of the year. This, in turn, would allow Ferrari to find the right path for next year’s car that could meet the ambitious targets of the Prancing Horse. He said, as reported by Motorsports.com, “For us, it’s crystal clear what we did wrong with the car and which are the weaknesses.”
The SF23 turned out to have the wrong development philosophy. The team could not extract the pace of the car with the constrained design. However, Enrico Cardile reckoned that Ferrari’s 2024 F1 machinery would be a completely new design. This design would be more than just an evolution of this year’s challenger. He explained, “It will be a brand new car. A different chassis with different design and a different rear end to allow to better develop the car to achieve the targets.”
Discover: Who has the most Dutch GP wins?
Ferrari fully focused on 2024 car
Cardile claimed that the Scuderia kept working on the SF23 in the first half of the season to understand its shortcomings. The upgrades brought during the year helped Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as they faced stiff competition in a tight fight for P2 in the standings. Now, Maranello’s design team has completely shifted its attention to the 2024 car.
The Head of Chassis reaffirmed that Ferrari will bring a few more upgrades this season. However, wind-tunnel testing will be conducted only with the next season’s machinery in a bid to fight for the title in 2024. He stated, “We will bring some other updates in the next races, but now in the wind tunnel we are fully focused on next year’s car.”
Thus, Scuderia Ferrari has learned lessons from the SF23 struggles throughout the season. The Italian team has returned to the drawing board and will bring major changes to its 2024 challenger as they try to catch Red Bull. However, it remains to be seen if Ferrari can develop a car capable of toppling RB-19’s successor next year.
In case you missed it:
- Formula 1 backs down from fight with Las Vegas bars, reduces $3 Million ‘license’ fee to few thousands due to backlash
- Helmut Marko breaks silence on Max Verstappen’s Aston Martin Valkyrie fiasco
Stay Updated!
Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)