Ferrari entered the 2023 season with high hopes, having drastically re-designed the front end of the car compared to its 2022 challenger. There were significant shortcomings in 2022, notably from the power unit that failed in Baku, and the team running with reduced electrical power for the remainder of the season to ensure reliability. Work done over the winter to improve the ERS-H has been successful, and so attention turned towards aerodynamics for this season with the SF-23.
The Italian team reconfigured the front suspension, with a lower track rod compared to last year’s F1-75, while a new front wing, a change to the construction of the nose and optimised bodywork to increase vertical load at speed, all appeared.
Since those introductions, points have been scored at every race other than Australia (to date), and drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have both scored podium finishes. The former was second in Austria, third in Azerbaijan and Belgium; the latter took victory at Singapore and third in Italy. These latter two races were crucial to the Scuderia for the outcome of its season.
This season cannot realistically be described as a success for Ferrari, but it was another year of building led by the appointment of
