Ferrari’s New SF-23 Formula 1 Car Has Max Verstappen and Red Bull in Its Crosshairs

Honestly now, this livery nonsense must stop. It’s one thing to call it a ‘livery reveal’ from the get-go, which is perfectly fine. What Red Bull did last week when they unveiled their so-called RB19 race car was nothing short of a slap in the face to everyone present at their event in New York – not to mention the tens of thousands of fans following the proceedings online.

The Scuderia, thankfully, went a different route, much like McLaren and Aston Martin did the previous day. First impressions? Well, the car looks great. It’s a brighter shade of red compared to last year, with Ferrari Design responsible for creating this new color. There are some naked carbon fiber parts present too, while the brand’s historic “long F” logo can be seen on the rear wing.

Mechanically, the SF-23 has been completely redesigned compared to last year’s SF-75, with Head of Chassis Enrico Cardile saying there’s more vertical downforce now, to go with a redesigned suspension plus a great deal of other aerodynamic modifications.

“The most obvious changes are in the area at the front suspension where we have moved to a low track rod. The front wing is also different, as is the construction of the nose, while the bodywork is a more extreme version of what we saw last season,” said Cardile.

He has a point. The car does look a little more aggressive, although the sidepods are very similar and still feature that so-called “bathtub” design from 2022.

On track action

Those watching the presentation today were treated to the SF-23's first ever outing on the track, with Charles Leclerc being first to get behind the wheel after winning a coin toss against Carlos Sainz, his teammate.

The Monegasque driver looked quick out there, although he didn’t push the car all the way, obviously. Also, the asphalt at Fiorano can be a bit bumpy, so we wouldn’t read too much into the car bouncing up and down the straights like that – porpoising will likely still be an issue for teams this year, albeit a far smaller one than in 2022.

Expectations beyond Bahrain

Once the 2023 F1 season kicks off in Bahrain on March 5, we’ll find out just how the new Ferrari SF-23 compares to the likes of the Red Bull RB19 and the Mercedes-AMG W14, as these two should account for most of Ferrari’s headaches on the track.

We also expect good things from the Alpine A523, but at this point, expectations and speculations are kind of the same thing. Besides, since the rules for 2023 aren’t that different from those from last year, we’re unlikely to see any massive gains on the track in terms of lap times.