During the weekend the second race on a track with characteristics that should favor the smoothness of the SF-23
March 13, 2023
– Jeddah (Arabia)
And now what will happen to the Ferrari championship? Just one GP was enough to make the perception of a season that started with very high expectations and now seems already terribly uphill. In Bahrain, after tests concluded with a “let’s see what happens next week in the race”, it ended up with a hard contact with the reality of a superior Red Bull. Charles Leclerc retired after a reliability problem after a race in which, however, he was never able to stay in Verstappen’s exhausts. What was the main problem of 2022, the lack of vertical load, has reappeared in all its problematic nature, even if team principal Fred Vasseur has invited caution and asked to wait for the next races, because a fast car in qualifying it cannot fail to be so even in the race.
tense climate
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The problem is that staffing difficulties have been added to the “mechanical” difficulties. The resignation of David Sanchez after just one race, one of the key designers of the SF-23, which caused a stir more outside than inside, suggests that the situation at team level is rather turbulent. We have already told you about the move by Charles Leclerc, who wanted reassurances from president John Elkann, and this too is not a very reassuring signal for the fans. How can you think of facing a comeback season against such a tough opponent as Red Bull if the ranks no longer appear as compact as the enthusiasm at the beginning of the season let us imagine? It will be the task of Fred Vasseur, called to immediately manage a difficult situation, between expectations that remain high and a group that, after the farewell of Mattia Binotto, has a desperate need for certainties: important future assessments that must improve depend on it the SF-23 project.
leaning curves
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In the meantime there is a season that is pressing and resumes at the weekend. The second GP of the year and of Jeddah will take place in Saudi Arabia. What can we expect from the Cavallino? On paper, the technical situation for Ferrari should be better because, compared to Bahrain, there is no support for big corners and decisive and sudden changes of direction, where dynamic and aerodynamic balance come into play which have strong repercussions on tire wear management.
smoothness
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Bahrain is a track with high percentages of degradation, while Jeddah is instead a track that favors smoothness, a quality that the SF-23 does not lack and therefore there are good reasons on paper not to be pessimistic. There is also the curiosity to see if the new version of the single-pylon rear wing will make its debut in Arabia, which was shelved in Bahrain due to problems with excessive oscillation. The modified version could help improve the situation as per the calculations made in Maranello.
March 13, 2023 – 11:58 am
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