As part of an optimisation process conducted over the winter, Ferrari has targeted key areas of improvement that it thinks can lift it chances for the new season.
The first is in aerodynamics, with the team set to further refine the innovative scoop sidepods to help better manage airflow – both in improving downforce but also in reducing drag.
Beyond that, Ferrari also wants to reduce the weight of its new challenger – actually aiming to get below the 796kg limit which will then give it the option to add ballast to the car to help improve its balance and optimise tyre behaviour.
Ferrari is set to launch its new car, codenamed the 675, on 14 February, but work is already advanced on its pre-assembly with the concept having long been signed off.
But it is in weight saving that a core effort has been made, with rivals Red Bull and Mercedes both having struggled with heavy cars at times in 2022.
While Red Bull was able to make significant gains through the course of the season, which played a part in the step forward in form that helped it later dominate, neither it nor Mercedes were able to reduce the weight as much as they wanted.
That effort has instead been focused for their 2023 cars, with rumours swirling at the end of last season that Red Bull had already homologated a new lightweight chassis that was around 3kg under the championship-winning RB18.
Sources have suggested that Ferrari has now also made good gains in this area, which should help it both in lap time performance but more crucially in tyre life – with improved balance that can come from placing ballast in the right area a key component in reduced degradation.
With Ferrari having chased shaving off every gramme of weight possible, the success of its efforts will not be known for definite until the new F1 car is fully assembled and finished.
An insider said: “The answers will only be found when the F1 car is put on the scales.”
However, the early indications appear positive, which will be welcome news for incoming new team principal Frederic Vasseur, who begins officially in his role next week.
