How Ferrari “completely redesigned” their 2023 F1 car

Ferrari revealed their SF-23 challenger on Tuesday morning at an event at their Fiorano test facility, before Charles Leclerc gave the car its track debut. 

The Italian outfit hope their latest challenger will build on last year’s F1-75, which won four races and claimed 12 pole positions, with further aerodynamic improvements. 

Much of the team’s design focus has centred around the front-end of the SF-23. 

“Our 2023 car is an evolution of the one we raced last year, but in reality, it has been completely redesigned,” Ferrari’s head of chassis Enrico Cardile explained. 

"On the aerodynamic side, our aim was twofold, to increase vertical downforce, to make up for what was lost due to the new aero 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 that can be made to the car at the track.”

Cardile said the number of parts carried over from the 2022 car is “double the figure of that of a car built to the previous regulations” due to the F1 cost cap. 

However, big changes have still been made to the suspension, front wing and bodywork, the latter of which has been described as “more extreme” by Cardile. 

“The most obvious changes to the car are definitely in the area of the front suspension where we have moved from a configuration with a high track rod to one with a low track rod, driven by the demands of the aerodynamicists,” he said. 

“The front wing is also different, as is the construction of the nose, as the primary element is no longer attached to the nose, instead it is floating. 

“The bodywork is more a continuation of what was done last year, but it’s more extreme.”