Formula 1 returns this weekend for the exciting round of the championship in the United States, ad Austin, Texas. A Sprint race is also scheduled for this weekend, the penultimate of the championship and this means less testing for everyone, and paradoxically more work to do. We are now in the last hot phase of the world championship and even if we already have a champion driver and a champion team, there is still a lot at stake. In particular for second place in both rankings. Sergio Perez has to defend himself and Red Bull, who gave both drivers an unrivaled car in terms of performance. In the constructors' championship there is still a very heated battle between Mercedes and Ferrari separated by only 28 points. On the eve of the weekend in Austin, some news arrives on the latest moves by the Scuderia di Maranello. Ferrari has in fact decided not to introduce significant updates on the SF-23 for this race, thus interrupting development to focus on 2024.
No updates for the Ferrari SF-23 in Austin
Despite an up-and-down season and some disappointing performances, Ferrari surprised many by announcing that it will have no new features at the American event. As reported above Motorsport.com in the usual technical bulletin on Friday which will be issued by the FIA to inform journalists of the changes of the various teams for the United States GP, under the heading Ferrari, the wording will be added: “no news for this event”.
The Maranello team, after a disappointing Qatar GP, decided to concentrate, rather than on another onerous development, on small adaptations to deal with the complicated Texan track characterized by numerous unevenness and imperfections in the road surface. Ferrari also had to deal with a rather significant technical problem during the weekend in Qatar. A fuel leak on Carlos Sainz's car at Losail led to the need for replace the tank and the fuel system, preventing Sainz from taking to the track. Problem that was promptly resolved to allow both riders to be ready for the American stage.
The SF-23 will therefore have changes linked more to the circuit and the difficulties to maximize the aerodynamic load without compromising the integrity of the car.
The 2024 car is being prepared in the wind tunnel
One of the main reasons for the renunciation of developments is linked to the wind tunnel, currently reserved for work on the 2024 single-seater. Work began already during the summer break and is requiring the maximum attention of the Prancing Horse technicians. Ferrari's decision not to introduce further updates until testing in 2024 is significant. The team is already concentrating its resources and experience on designing the new single-seater for next season under the guidance of Vasseur. The Ferrari team principal who arrived in January 2023 will find himself leading a team for the first time in the complete process of creating the single-seater. So there is a lot of waiting. Also given the lack of promise this season. The team managed to achieve only one victory, in Singapore with Carlos Sainz.
Ferrari now sits 28 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors' championship, with five races remaining to try and make up the difference. In Qatar, fortunately for the Maranello team, Mercedes got in the way a bit with the Hamilton-Russell contact at the start. But a show of strength will be needed in the next races to recover. Meanwhile in Austin the team must also keep an eye on the Power Unit issue. The American track is particularly demanding on the engines and for this reason the team will use a cooler unit.
