Technical: Ferrari set to debut new floor and front wing in Austria

Following the introduction of significant upgrades at this month’s Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari are set to debut new parts at the Red Bull Ring. F1Technical’s senior journalist Balázs Szabó reports of Ferrari’s recent development push.

Following a difficult start to the season, Ferrari have started a relentless development work to improve their 2023 F1 challenger, the SF23. It is believed that Ferrari endured difficulties with the correlation over the winter which meant that the data between the track and the simulation did not match each other.

The Maranello-based outfit was set to introduce their first major upgrade package on home turf in Imola. However, with the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Ferrari was unable to debut their new parts there which forced them to postpone the introduction of the upgrades for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Barcelona package meant that Ferrari moved away from their inwash concept with the package’s visually most interesting part including a revised sidepod design that abandoned the bathtub concept and took inspiration from Red Bull’s downwash philosophy.

The team also brought a revised floor to Barcelona which is also a significant change to their previous version. The new floor featured modified leading edge, sporting more complex curvatures along its middle section.

Furthermore, the team modified the rear-view mirror housing with the upper section featuring a significantly shorter vane.

For the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari are set to introduce further new parts which the team first trialed during a filming day at its Fiorano test track earlier this week. Teams are allocated with two filming days during a season and are only permitted a maximum distance of 100 kilometres of driving time.

It has been reported that Carlos Sainz drove the car first in its Montreal specification before handing over the SF23 to his team mate Charles Leclerc, who tried out the revised package.

The Spielberg upgrade package includes a heavily revised front wing. The new version sports a more rounded endplate with a shorter divevane instead of the long ‘S’-shaped variant.

The connection between the endplate and the main plane/ flaps of the front wing has also been revised with the new solution featuring a more complex configuration and a more prominent cutout in the lower rear quarter of the endplate with a small longitudinal vane added to the inner rear section of the end plate.

Furthermore, the nose tip of the vanity panel has also been revised with the bottom part featuring a more rounded section.

Moreover, Ferrari have also brought a new floor to the Red Bull Ring that should improve the flow downstream for the revisions Ferrari introduced to its sidepods at Barcelona.