“We’re not copying anyone,” Ferrari rubbishes claims of adopting Red Bull sidepods with latest upgrades

Charles Leclerc's driver coach insists that Ferrari did not copy the Red Bull RB-19 side pods.

“We’re not copying anyone,” Ferrari rubbishes claims of adopting Red Bull sidepods with latest upgrades

Carlos Sainz, 2023 Spanish GP, image via PlanetF1

Scuderia Ferrari fell far behind Red Bull in the 2023 F1 season. The Italian team failed to have an answer to the mighty RB-19 that has won all 7 races so far with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Maranello introduced a new upgrade package at the Spanish GP with s ide pods closer to the Red Bull. Charles Leclerc’s driver coach Jock Clear has tried to put an end to such speculation.

The 59-year-old made it clear that Ferrari had complete faith in its original side pod concept it carried over for this season. The Scuderia was convinced by the design approach it adopted at the onset of the new ground-effect regulations. However, Charles Leclerc‘s driver coach pointed out that the Italian team did look into its rivals to get inspiration for future upgrades.

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Clear believed that it was a standard affair in F1 for teams to take a look at other cars and go back to the drawing board. Jock explained the process that is followed in Maranello as it builds upon new ideas from its competitors. He said, “We’re not copying anyone per se. We’re looking at what they did. We’re going back to our wind tunnel and trying to find out if it works.”

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Ferrari pursuing a new development path

A close-up shot of the updated Ferrari SF23, image via Autosport
A close-up shot of the updated Ferrari SF23, image via Autosport

Jock stated Maranello is working continuously on solving dozens of problems simultaneously. In such a scenario, getting inspired by other teams and testing it in the wind tunnel is common. Although, this is a rather lengthy process that can take a few months. Before a team can get decent results, this has been achieved by Fred Vasseur’s team regarding the new SF23 side pods.

The Ferrari driver coach revealed that the team was developing a new path. The side pods result from its successful understanding in this avenue. Though there is still a lot of work left in Maranello if the team truly wants to challenge Christian Horner‘s team for the world championship after losing out last season.

Thus, Jock Clear has dismissed claims of copying the Red Bull RB-19. Instead, Clear believes that the team has simply worked on a new design path after taking a look at its rivals as part of a standard procedure in the sport. Nonetheless, it is no secret that the inspiration for the new SF23 upgrades was the Adrian Newey-designed RB-19.

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