The day of the presentation of a new Ferrari is one to always mark on the calendar, a special event like the one the Scuderia has created to unveil the new SF-23 to the world, the single-seater that will take part in the 2023 Formula 1 championship.
The car presents itself as an evolution of its progenitor, with which it shares the construction philosophy, albeit with some innovations in terms of aerodynamics and suspension. There are several tricks resulting from an accurate refinement work, starting from the nose, which now no longer rests on the mainplane of the wing but on the second element.
Around the cockpit you can see other changes, such as the wings to direct the flow behind the halo or the reinterpretation of the air vents in the now famous “tubs” made inside the bellies. Interestingly, this year it will be easier to replace part of the grilles from which the hot air comes out, now incorporated in a special panel so it will no longer be necessary to replace the entire engine hood. At the suspension level, the kinematic mechanisms have been revised, both for aerodynamic purposes and to adapt to the characteristics of the new Pirelli tyres.
Enrico Cardile, manager of the Scuderia’s chassis area, explained the interventions and also illustrated how the Ferrari intervened in the design phase to adapt to the new regulations imposed by the FIA on ground clearance to limit porpoising.
The SF-23 looks like an evolution of the 2022 car, but how much is new?
“The 2023 single-seater is an evolution of last year’s car, but in reality it has all been completely redesigned. In aerodynamics, the objective was twofold, to improve the vertical downforce by gaining what was lost due to the new aerodynamic regulations and to obtain the balance characteristics that we had set ourselves. The suspension compartment has also been completely redesigned, on the one hand to accommodate the aerodynamicists and obtain the results we had set ourselves and on the other hand to improve the car’s adjustment capabilities on the track”.
What are the most noticeable changes on the SF-23?
“The most evident changes to the new single-seater are certainly the front suspension, where we have gone from a configuration with a high track rod to a configuration with a low track rod guided by the needs of aerodynamics. The front wing is also different, as is the structure of the nose, having the first element no longer connected to the nose but floating. The bodywork part is more in continuity with what was done last year but made more extreme”.
The new Ferrari SF-23.
Photo by: Ferrari
Did the budget cap affect the design of the SF-23?
“The budget cap has become an indispensable performance ace, so in tackling the presentation of this year’s car we could not ignore taking it into consideration. The way we looked at it was to go and determine and look for those areas with little or no added value on the car’s performance and try to keep those areas of the car the same as the previous car. In numerical terms, the result obtained was that the number of parts carried over on this year’s machine is double that of a machine with a previous regulation without the presence of the budget cap”.
How did you work during the design phase to adapt to the new ground clearance regulations?
“The new aerodynamic regulations designed by the Federation designed to reduce the risk of porpoising on the track have led to a net loss of aerodynamic performance, even a substantial loss. In terms of development, the work was not very different from that carried out in previous years and we simply had to re-adapt the geometry of the car for the new flow structures that were generated due to the new regulations”.
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