Can Ferrari's new car topple Red Bull's modern F1 dominance?

One year ago, Ferrari unveiled a car that looked every bit a Formula 1 title contender in the opening races of the 2022 season. The skirmishes between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen within those opening rounds were the set-up to a championship battle that ultimately fell flatter than a crepe on an apartment floor.

There were elements of the anti-climax that can be lain at Ferrari’s door, particularly in terms of early-season strategic calls, but the championship seemed to be distinctly out of reach when Leclerc placed his F1-75 into the Paul Ricard barriers. The wheels had come off, and Ferrari had to spend the rest of the season soul-searching.

PLUS: How Ferrari missed its big chance to end a painful F1 wait

To that end, Mattia Binotto left the team and Frederic Vasseur takes up the Ferrari reins having arrived from Alfa Romeo. This should give the team a different dynamic at the top but, from a technical standpoint, much of the philosophy remains the same.

The new SF-23 pleasingly looks like a 1990s throwback once again, helped by the added naked carbon around the nose that evokes the Ferrari 643. And, if we’re in this naked carbon era, Ferrari earns style points for using spread-tow carbonfibre on top of the lay-up – which gives the sidepods and engine cover that checkerboard look. Are points taken away from the seemingly random splodges of unpainted car? That’s purely subjective...

But look, you’ve not clicked this to read about carbonfibre lay-ups. You’ve clicked this to play spot-the-difference compared to last year’s car and see what makes the SF-23 different. We, dear reader, are only happy to oblige.

At the front, the team has redesigned its nose to be shorter and more along the design style used by Red Bull last season. As a result, this is now divorced from the leading element of the front wing to open up a clear slot gap underneath to boost the underbody airflow. The overall geometry of the wing last year trended towards a more inboard-loaded design, where the load generation was focused around the centre of the total wingspan, but it appears to have been spread further out if the reprofiled shape is anything to go by.

But perhaps the most intriguing addition to the front wing lies in the quintet of fins mounted between the upper two elements. This was an arrangement that Mercedes tried last season at Austin, but the FIA did not consider it a legal modification and thus they were removed as a consequence.

Ferrari's front wing includes a quintet of fins which appear to be an intent to generate vortices and divert airflow outwards ahead of the front tyre

Photo by: Ferrari

Whether this is just a ploy by Ferrari to get tongues wagging, or if they’ve managed to find an interpretation convincing enough for the FIA to accept, it’s a curious inclusion either way. The benefits appear to be an intent to generate vortices and divert airflow outwards ahead of the front tyre, which is certainly of great value to get more from the wing.

Perhaps this is how Ferrari has found a way of getting it considered legal - the FIA technical regulations state that no more than eight slot gap separators may be used either side of the wing, and also permits three brackets which “define the pivot axis of the FW Flap and allow the necessary movement”.

Attaching the bottom plane to the second, three conventional separators have been used. It appears that Ferrari is using its allowance of three “pivot axis” brackets on elements two and three; one attaches to the front wing flap adjuster, one attaches to the opposite bracket by the nose, and the middle bracket also appears to have its own pivot. This would leave the five fins to act as the remaining allowance in the eight-bracket system. The rules have also deleted the phrase “primarily mechanical, structural or measurement reasons”, which appear to allow the devices’ aerodynamic intent.

"The suspension has also been completely redesigned. On the one hand to help the aerodynamicists get the results they were looking for, and on the other to increase the range of adjustments possible on the car at the track" Enrico Cardile

Elsewhere, the car is a continued evolution of the aerodynamic philosophy set down by the 2022 car, which means that the SF-23 breaks with the current convention of opting for downwashing sidepods. The indent in the upper face remains, now featuring larger cooling fins and an outlet below the halo mounting. The cascade of stylised fins remains on the engine cover, appearing to bring the expelled air towards the centreline of the car. Greater sculpting has been applied to the sidepods as Ferrari persists with the inwashing arrangement to the rear of the car, particularly around the area where they meet the floor.

Ferrari has also found space to add to its airbox horns, as it continues with the triangular intake arrangement. A downwashing element has sprouted underneath to provide the oncoming airflow with some direction, and a further, longer winglet has appeared below that. This rests on the fin emerging from the halo mounting point, also offering a downwash and vortex generation component.

The suspension has been revised over last season, largely for aerodynamic purposes, which has resulted in the front trackrod being moved downwards to clear the decks further up. Speaking about the development and the design of the SF-23 at Ferrari’s launch, the team’s head of chassis Enrico Cardile explained that the suspension changes were part of a wider effort to restore downforce lost to the revised floor regulations and simultaneously improve on its weak points from 2022.

The SF-23 is an evolution of last year's F1-75 in its design philosophy explains Cardile

Photo by: Ferrari

“The 2023 car is an evolution of the one we raced last year,” Cardile said. “But in reality, it has all been completely redesigned. On the aerodynamic side, our aim was twofold - to increase vertical downforce and to make up for what was lost due to the new era regulations, and then to achieve the balance characteristics we had set ourselves.

“The suspension has also been completely redesigned. On the one hand to help the aerodynamicists get the results they were looking for, and on the other to increase the range of adjustments possible on the car at the track.

“The new era rules introduced by the FIA to reduce the risk of porpoising on track have led to a net loss of aerodynamic performance, actually quite a substantial loss. In terms of development, our work was not much different to that of previous years. We simply had to adapt the car's geometry to suit the new flow shapes that are generated because of the new regulations.”

Cardile explained the effect of the budget cap on the car’s development and divulged that any components with minimal effect on the overall performance would be carried over. This forced the team to prioritise the lowest-hanging fruit and biggest areas of improvement.

In all likelihood, this was probably a similar scenario for most teams; for example, AlphaTauri elected to keep buying in old-specification components from Red Bull if there wasn’t enough of a tangible advantage to purchase the newer spec. This, according to Cardile, led to “double” the carried-over components compared to previous iterations of Ferrari-designed cars.

“The budget cap has had an undoubted effect on performance,” he explained. “Therefore, when it came to designing this year's car, we had to take it into consideration. The way we went about it was to decide which areas of the car had little or no added value to the performance of the car, and then try and keep these areas of the car similar to those of the previous one.

“In numerical terms, it means the number of parts carried over in this year's car is double the figure of that of a car built to the previous regulations without the presence of a budget cap.”

New suspension was an area of focus for Ferrari within the restrictions imposed by the budget cap

Photo by: Ferrari

After the excitement of 2021 and the subsequent milquetoast nature of 2022’s second half, the burgeoning F1 fanbase would crave a proper battle for the title, particularly following the early ‘22 hints that Ferrari had found its mojo once more.

Ferrari has now had a chance to forensically pore over its 2022 season, make the necessary adjustments to its car and to its operations, and focus on improving things for 2023. If the new car is a concerted step up in terms of pace and reliability, then we’ll get that title battle – but another misfire will let Red Bull and Max Verstappen march to a third consecutive crown unchecked and unchallenged.

F1 doesn’t do well out of being a one-man band, and a luxury sportscar manufacturer doesn’t do well out of being beaten by a purveyor of heartburn-inducing caffeine liquid. Ferrari needs the SF-23 to be right on the money this time, especially if it means it won’t have to leave things to dicey strategic gambles. It’s your chance to shine, Ferrari – don't trip on the way to the stage.

Can Ferrari get back on terms with Red Bull with its evolved SF-23 racer?

Photo by: Ferrari