2023 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[CRazyLemon]

Sainz complain many times about the handling of the car. I think you’re quite mistaken if you believe that Ferrari built the car to favour Sainz. Also from your writing it seems that you heavily favour Leclerc. May I suggest you don’t underestimate Sainz so much. He might not have the complete raw speed as Leclerc in qualifying but on race pace he's there or thereabouts, he also definitely has a smarter racing brain.

Sorry but this narrative is false and i don't understand why it has become a reality in the first place.
Leclerc's advantage over Sainz, from 2021 to 2023, has been higher in race trim than quali trim on average.

Having said that Leclerc had way more issues than Sainz with the SF 23 for two main reasons:

- The car is very limited on the front end. Formu1a.uno reported recently that the SF 23 was one of the car which spend the least amount of time in a corner (it was the case even in Abu Dhabi)
- The car would become extremely unpredictable with an oversteery balance, which is usual what Leclerc goes for

Long story short the SF 23 was pretty much the "Anti Leclerc" definitive car Now i don't know if they did it on purpose (i doubt it), but yeah it's clearly the car Leclerc hates the most.

Maybe, but you´re assuming a car wich Leclerc don´t like will be good for Sainz, and that´s a wrong assumption.

The car can be "undriveable" for both drivers. This is Ferrari, keep that in mind, they can make a car wich do not suit any of their drivers



About Binotto-Vasseur... With Binotto Ferrari was 2nd (only comparing this ruleset), scoring 73% of RBR points. With Vasseur Ferrari was 3rd, scoring 47% of RBR points.

Obviously points and results are not everything, but they´re a very important factor to consider, and difference was huge, so someone should point this out

Anycase, I think TP is not the weak point at Ferrari, probably could be better, but apart from car perfomance itself, IMHO strategy department is by far the weakest link at Ferrari with several decisions wich were completely amateurish, for both drivers

Odd way of looking at it, Vassuer was handed the lemon that was the SF23 by Binotto. Do you think Binotto would have scored 73% of RBR points this year?

[Vanja #66]

Example 2

Binotto refuses to take accountability, he insists they did no wrong. No-blame.

His iconic quote from Silverstone:

"Who said he would've won the race" amazing.

Yeah, that was the lowest of the low points honestly...

[Sphere3758]

To me, the issue with Binotto was that he was too much a “Ferrari above all” guy. Don’t think he had bad intentions, but the goal of building a car which suits both drivers or trying to be neutral with strategy just backfired spectacularly.

You need someone who realizes that the constructors will be won automatically when their best driver is happy and comfortable. Horner will play all games necessary to make Max win, Leclerc needs the same level of support even to think of competing.

I look forward to seeing if the attitude of Vasseur continues to evolve in this direction come 2024. I haven’t formed my opinion on him yet, but I like what I see and the definitive proof will be on March 2, 2023. Doesn’t matter if Redbull is still well ahead, I just want to see a car completely tailored to Charles

[AR3-GP]

I don’t think starting the season neutral with strategy was inherently bad. It’s just that Carlos was being blown away for 8 straight races at the start of 2022 before Silverstone happened so Charles earned the priority by that point, but did not get it.

But then again, Binotto said at the start of 2022 that they were not focusing on a championship. That was also a misjudgement. A fast car may be a “once in 3 season” event. He needed to seize the moment (before knowledge of Td039 of course…)

[Andres125sx]

Sorry but this narrative is false and i don't understand why it has become a reality in the first place.
Leclerc's advantage over Sainz, from 2021 to 2023, has been higher in race trim than quali trim on average.

Having said that Leclerc had way more issues than Sainz with the SF 23 for two main reasons:

- The car is very limited on the front end. Formu1a.uno reported recently that the SF 23 was one of the car which spend the least amount of time in a corner (it was the case even in Abu Dhabi)
- The car would become extremely unpredictable with an oversteery balance, which is usual what Leclerc goes for

Long story short the SF 23 was pretty much the "Anti Leclerc" definitive car Now i don't know if they did it on purpose (i doubt it), but yeah it's clearly the car Leclerc hates the most.

Maybe, but you´re assuming a car wich Leclerc don´t like will be good for Sainz, and that´s a wrong assumption.

The car can be "undriveable" for both drivers. This is Ferrari, keep that in mind, they can make a car wich do not suit any of their drivers



About Binotto-Vasseur... With Binotto Ferrari was 2nd (only comparing this ruleset), scoring 73% of RBR points. With Vasseur Ferrari was 3rd, scoring 47% of RBR points.

Obviously points and results are not everything, but they´re a very important factor to consider, and difference was huge, so someone should point this out

Anycase, I think TP is not the weak point at Ferrari, probably could be better, but apart from car perfomance itself, IMHO strategy department is by far the weakest link at Ferrari with several decisions wich were completely amateurish, for both drivers

Odd way of looking at it, Vassuer was handed the lemon that was the SF23 by Binotto. Do you think Binotto would have scored 73% of RBR points this year?

Probably not, but reply this question please. Do you think Ferrari maximized the potential of the SF23?

My reply to this question is a resounding NOT, I´m sure they could have scored many more points than they did. I´m not saying Binotto would do it better, only that Vasseur could have do it much better.

I don´t care about who´s better than the other, I don´t like neither of them actually

[Andres125sx]

To me, the issue with Binotto was that he was too much a “Ferrari above all” guy. Don’t think he had bad intentions, but the goal of building a car which suits both drivers or trying to be neutral with strategy just backfired spectacularly.

You need someone who realizes that the constructors will be won automatically when their best driver is happy and comfortable. Horner will play all games necessary to make Max win, Leclerc needs the same level of support even to think of competing.

I look forward to seeing if the attitude of Vasseur continues to evolve in this direction come 2024. I haven’t formed my opinion on him yet, but I like what I see and the definitive proof will be on March 2, 2023. Doesn’t matter if Redbull is still well ahead, I just want to see a car completely tailored to Charles

Did you notice Ferrari is not RBR?

Max scored enough point to win both titles by himself, 575 points. Second team at the WCC, Mercedes, scored 409. So RBR/Max won both the WDC and WCC by himself, and by a huge margin.

Assuming Ferrari could do the same, is, at beast, a pipe dream. Any team wich is not as dominant as RBR nowadays needs both drivers scoring as many points as possible to fight for both titles. Even the very same team (RBR) on a different period when they also did dominate (Vettel 2010-2013) need their second driver scoring lots of points to win the WCC

A F1 team focusing only on one of their drivers is a privilege of teams who are extremelly dominant, not a norm

[aMessageToCharlie]

The problem's name there is neither Mattia Binotto, nor Fred Vasseur. It's Xavier Marcos Padros. If you search for the guy online, the first thing that comes up is a petition to get rid of him.

Next in line is Fred though if he doesnt get rid of him.

[TFSA]

Probably not, but reply this question please. Do you think Ferrari maximized the potential of the SF23?

My reply to this question is a resounding NOT, I´m sure they could have scored many more points than they did. I´m not saying Binotto would do it better, only that Vasseur could have do it much better.

I don´t care about who´s better than the other, I don´t like neither of them actually

I think it's unfair to put it all on Vasseur.

For example, one of the things that is clearly not working properly to me is the pit wall, including Leclercs race engineer. Even if we ignore the language barrier, which is acceptable, his communication skills in general (the way he conveys things) aren't up to par, and the amount of times the drivers have to call the strategy (which goes for both of them) is astonishing.

But that isn't simply a case of Vasseur just firing them (or shuffling them around) and replacing them with other people. Vasseur can't just dismiss people the drivers are comfortable with. The drivers themselves have to come to the realization that something isn't adequate, and be willing to be okay with a change of roster or something else that can bring positive change.

Essentially, the team has to come to a self-realization that what they are doing is costing them too much. I'm confident that Leclerc could have finished 100+ points ahead of Checo in 2022 if they didn't throw this much.

[Andres125sx]

Probably not, but reply this question please. Do you think Ferrari maximized the potential of the SF23?

My reply to this question is a resounding NOT, I´m sure they could have scored many more points than they did. I´m not saying Binotto would do it better, only that Vasseur could have do it much better.

I don´t care about who´s better than the other, I don´t like neither of them actually

I think it's unfair to put it all on Vasseur.

For example, one of the things that is clearly not working properly to me is the pit wall, including Leclercs race engineer. Even if we ignore the language barrier, which is acceptable, his communication skills in general (the way he conveys things) aren't up to par, and the amount of times the drivers have to call the strategy (which goes for both of them) is astonishing.

But that isn't simply a case of Vasseur just firing them (or shuffling them around) and replacing them with other people. Vasseur can't just dismiss people the drivers are comfortable with. The drivers themselves have to come to the realization that something isn't adequate, and be willing to be okay with a change of roster or something else that can bring positive change.

Essentially, the team has to come to a self-realization that what they are doing is costing them too much. I'm confident that Leclerc could have finished 100+ points ahead of Checo in 2022 if they didn't throw this much.

I didn´t put it all on Vasseur, actually I said exactly the contrary, wich is the same you´re stating

Anycase, I think TP is not the weak point at Ferrari, probably could be better, but apart from car perfomance itself, IMHO strategy department is by far the weakest link at Ferrari with several decisions wich were completely amateurish, for both drivers

About Leclerc race engineer, I don´t care at all, fire him if you like, but assuming that will improve car perfomance or racing decisions is absurd. Race engineers do not have that kind of power, he´s only some sort of spokesman to tell the driver what are the team decisions, but those decisions comes from the strategy team, not from himself

[Andres125sx]

At the spanish TV we enjoy Pedro de la Rosa and Toni Cuquerella as commentators, and it´s quite funny because they´re good friends, but also an enginer vs driver, wich is frequently a difficult relationship, so they´re constantly joking about engineers incorrectly assuming drivers are robots who can do whatever engineers ask for (Pedro), or drivers incorrectly assuming they know better than engineers who can analyse live telemetry (Toni). They make a fun, interesting and technical broadcast

De la Rosa once said race engineers should be more of a phsychologist than engineers, as they can´t take any relevant decision, but must be extremelly careful with the way they say things to drivers. Drivers are extremelly stressed while racing, so they need a polite race engineer who knows the driver, and know how to comunicate with him to avoid absurd distractions or confusing info. Some drivers need as much info as possible, like Alonso, while others needs just the key info like Kimi. It´s the race engineer responsibility to understand what info the driver needs to know, so basically if the driver is happy with his race engineer, the race engineer is doing a good job, even if we fans think otherwise

[AR3-GP]

Yes but we don't know if Leclerc is "happy" because he finds it difficult to tell the guy he's doing a bad job, or if he's actually happy. Leclerc hardly ever says anything too bad about Ferrari even if they deserve it.

[codetower]

At the spanish TV we enjoy Pedro de la Rosa and Toni Cuquerella as commentators, and it´s quite funny because they´re good friends, but also an enginer vs driver, wich is frequently a difficult relationship, so they´re constantly joking about engineers incorrectly assuming drivers are robots who can do whatever engineers ask for (Pedro), or drivers incorrectly assuming they know better than engineers who can analyse live telemetry (Toni). They make a fun, interesting and technical broadcast

De la Rosa once said race engineers should be more of a phsychologist than engineers, as they can´t take any relevant decision, but must be extremelly careful with the way they say things to drivers. Drivers are extremelly stressed while racing, so they need a polite race engineer who knows the driver, and know how to comunicate with him to avoid absurd distractions or confusing info. Some drivers need as much info as possible, like Alonso, while others needs just the key info like Kimi. It´s the race engineer responsibility to understand what info the driver needs to know, so basically if the driver is happy with his race engineer, the race engineer is doing a good job, even if we fans think otherwise

I disagree with a couple of these statements. First, they don't need a "polite" engineer; They need an engineer who is leading his team or engineers and strategists, and giving the drivers the "right" information at the "right time". I don't care how smart a driver is, they only have access to a fraction of the data that the engineering team has; How big the gaps and deltas are, what the lap times of all other drivers are, how the different tire compounds are behaving on other cars, on your teammates car, when the best lap to pit is so you are out in the best window... All these things. The driver knows his car, and his race. His engineer should know everything else about the race better than the driver.

As fans we love it when a driver makes the decision to box on X lap for X tire compound, or to back up and give DRS to the guy behind you to keep the guys behind so you can keep your position, or to let a driver pass you to make up a 5 second penalty. But in reality, the pit wall and engineer SHOULD know this better than the driver. This is what concerns me not only about Charles' engineer, but Carlos' also.

And secondly, I don't care how much the driver likes the engineer, if the engineer is not bringing the best results, or holding a driver back... he's not doing a good job. That kind of thinking is exactly what failed Binotto.

[Andres125sx]

I disagree with a couple of these statements. First, they don't need a "polite" engineer; They need an engineer who is leading his team or engineers and strategists...

But that is not the race engineer responsibility! There´s a strategy team for that

...and giving the drivers the "right" information at the "right time".

Agree, that´s what I said. But the right info at the right time depends on the driver too, not all of them demand the same level of detailed info

I don't care how smart a driver is, they only have access to a fraction of the data that the engineering team has; How big the gaps and deltas are, what the lap times of all other drivers are, how the different tire compounds are behaving on other cars, on your teammates car, when the best lap to pit is so you are out in the best window... All these things. The driver knows his car, and his race. His engineer should know everything else about the race better than the driver.

As fans we love it when a driver makes the decision to box on X lap for X tire compound, or to back up and give DRS to the guy behind you to keep the guys behind so you can keep your position, or to let a driver pass you to make up a 5 second penalty. But in reality, the pit wall and engineer SHOULD know this better than the driver. This is what concerns me not only about Charles' engineer, but Carlos' also.

And secondly, I don't care how much the driver likes the engineer, if the engineer is not bringing the best results, or holding a driver back... he's not doing a good job. That kind of thinking is exactly what failed Binotto.

Also agree with this, but you keep assuming that is the race engineer responsibility, when it is not. The strategy team manage that info, and make those decisions, not the race engineer, he only transmit the strategy team decisions to the driver

Or that´s my understanding of the role of race engineers, but maybe I´m wrong

[Schippke]

The 676 project will not be a revolution, rather a big improvement of the weak points. The front push rod will remain unchanged, but there will be important work at the service of the aircraft (new wishbones layout). The chassis is the most renovated part.

Both drivers are close to renewing their contracts.

It is said that the rear end will be very different from the SF-23, and so will the front-wing design. The lower cone is now lowered, and the conveyors will be completely redesigned to dispose of a different air volume through the channels.

Collapsing the porpoising with each height increases the vehicle’s operability by several tenths (as the Red Bull does).

VIA: [formu1a.uno]

I assume they mean lower cone as the side impact structure will be lowered similar to Red Bulls (down very low)…?

[F1NAC]

Sainz complain many times about the handling of the car. I think you’re quite mistaken if you believe that Ferrari built the car to favour Sainz. Also from your writing it seems that you heavily favour Leclerc. May I suggest you don’t underestimate Sainz so much. He might not have the complete raw speed as Leclerc in qualifying but on race pace he's there or thereabouts, he also definitely has a smarter racing brain.

Sorry but this narrative is false and i don't understand why it has become a reality in the first place.
Leclerc's advantage over Sainz, from 2021 to 2023, has been higher in race trim than quali trim on average.

Having said that Leclerc had way more issues than Sainz with the SF 23 for two main reasons:

- The car is very limited on the front end. Formu1a.uno reported recently that the SF 23 was one of the car which spend the least amount of time in a corner (it was the case even in Abu Dhabi)
- The car would become extremely unpredictable with an oversteery balance, which is usual what Leclerc goes for

Long story short the SF 23 was pretty much the "Anti Leclerc" definitive car Now i don't know if they did it on purpose (i doubt it), but yeah it's clearly the car Leclerc hates the most.

Maybe, but you´re assuming a car wich Leclerc don´t like will be good for Sainz, and that´s a wrong assumption.

The car can be "undriveable" for both drivers. This is Ferrari, keep that in mind, they can make a car wich do not suit any of their drivers



About Binotto-Vasseur... With Binotto Ferrari was 2nd (only comparing this ruleset), scoring 73% of RBR points. With Vasseur Ferrari was 3rd, scoring 47% of RBR points.

Obviously points and results are not everything, but they´re a very important factor to consider, and difference was huge, so someone should point this out

Anycase, I think TP is not the weak point at Ferrari, probably could be better, but apart from car perfomance itself, IMHO strategy department is by far the weakest link at Ferrari with several decisions wich were completely amateurish, for both drivers

We should wait for next year to see what is Vasseur's Ferrari. This year there were still some deficits visible that appeared under Binotto as well (strategy, not prioritizing faster driver). Because if they build a rocket ship of the car they will tank it with bad decisions for sure. Also it would be nice to replace Xavi as a race engineer. The guy is basically Siri of race engineers.