F1 2023 Pre-Season Testing (23-25 February)

[Aziz]

Will Buxton just said tires deg on Ferrari is catastrophic, tiers are only good for few laps......well if true we can just skip the entire season

[Aziz]

Alfa Romeo has engine failure in Bottas' car

Its getting better and better

[PURE PASSION]

tire deg is a questionmark right now , BUT we are runnng with lower rear dnf then the other and this is pretty good reason for that. I think that we are trying to set up the car to use this type of low rear dnf in most tracks.But when it requires (probably lke this track) we can run more dnf and fix the deg problems.

[Aziz]

No doom and gloom from me. I am always optimistic, but we are completely lost on the last day of testing. Catastrophic tier deg, the car is messy to drive, under and oversteer, can't ride the curbs

[Frank Dhont]

No doom and gloom from me. I am always optimistic, but we are completely lost on the last day of testing. Catastrophic tier deg, the car is messy to drive, under and oversteer, can't ride the curbs

And even "completely lost" on the top of time sheets.
And when Will Buxton says we eat our tires, then I feel confident for the race, and also optimistic.

[stasera]

Charles Leclerc’s long stint earlier…

https://twitter.com/FanaticsFerrari/...30063312560133

[stasera]

last year's tests

it still seems like everything is ok

[stasera]

Stint de #Leclerc con las C3

1:39.0 - 1:39.1 - 1:39.1 - 1:39.5 - 1:39.7 - 1:39.6 - 1:40.3 - 1:40.2 - 1:40.2 - 1: 41.0 - 1:55.9 - 1:40.2



idk where Will Buxton gets his informations, but we look good for now.

[Frank Dhont]

Stint de #Leclerc con las C3

1:39.0 - 1:39.1 - 1:39.1 - 1:39.5 - 1:39.7 - 1:39.6 - 1:40.3 - 1:40.2 - 1:40.2 - 1: 41.0 - 1:55.9 - 1:40.2



idk where Will Buxton get his informations, but we look good for now.

Propably from Crofty, so no worries :)

[tifosi1993]

No doom and gloom from me. I am always optimistic, but we are completely lost on the last day of testing. Catastrophic tier deg, the car is messy to drive, under and oversteer, can't ride the curbs

Sure man...

Last year you were also crying about Ferrari's pace during the testing. Well, you weren't the only one, plenty of people dubbed Red Bull as the car to beat. But come Bahrain Ferrari took pole and won that race with an 1-2.

I think it is silly to worry about tyre wear or pace during the testing. Teams do their own things and it is impossible from the outside to read the situation. Example: Charles's last stint on C4 had no drop off.

But one thing is for sure, the top 3 teams are Ferrari-Mercedes-Red Bull, with Mercedes being a couple of tenths behind.

[PURE PASSION]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpznJAmX...g&name=360x360


last year's tests

it still seems like everything is ok

well this year almost everybody are setting much better stnts on C3 then this. We are the only ones that are having "troubles" with C3. But then Lec is doing a set of quite consistent laps on C4 where you expect to have worse degradation.
all n all it looks like we are just TESTING . The question is we are so confdent with our optimum set up for the race ,or we havent find it yet ?? All the questions will answered in just 1 week !!!

[brucewayne]

No doom and gloom from me. I am always optimistic, but we are completely lost on the last day of testing. Catastrophic tier deg, the car is messy to drive, under and oversteer, can't ride the curbs

Just to be clear, you are not always optimistic. Your statement is complete nonsense.

[stasera]

This was Charles’ stint on the C4 in the morning:

1: 39.314
1: 38.856
1: 38.792
1: 38.822
1: 38.664
1: 39.045
1: 38.798
1: 39.136
1: 39.921

Much better than on the C3

so dont worry guys



Charles said the SF-23 is a different car compared to last year, he tried different driving styles in testing.

Charles: "And finally found my way a little bit this morning."

Charles: "I still think we have some work to do. Red Bull seems to be very strong in these three days. Still a little bit of work to do."

Charles said that the car this year changed for him, the SF-23 is a less draggy car, but that also resulted into the car having different characteristics now [but they are in line with what they expected]. He said they still need to find the right setup.
he said that they might be faster on the straights now but lose a bit in the corners. He said they still need to find the sweet spot of the car.

[nani_s23]

Alfa Romeo has engine failure in Bottas' car

Gear box issue

[stasera]

Gear box issue

That's good to hear, but I wrote that message right after it happened

[ferrari1.8t]

Gear box issue

Its been revised again, power unit failure

https://twitter.com/fanaticsferrari/...bA5CzVkG9FZndA

[stasera]

[stasera]

Its been revised again, power unit failure

https://twitter.com/fanaticsferrari/...bA5CzVkG9FZndA

bottas is on the track right now, how they handled the issue this much fast? i hope its not a serious issue. maybe they changed PU or what

[PURE PASSION]

The rear wings the teams are using today!

High downforce: Mercedes
Medium-high: Alfa
Medium: All the others
Medium-low: Ferrari

More downforce causes better high-speed cornering and braking, and better tyre wear, at the expense of top speed and possibly more porpoising
Attachment 8148
I wonder.Is this the config we will use in the race. If it is ,it looks like we will be in trouble especially on C3s.If we switch to a more loaded one we might be better. BUT apart this morning's failed test with the new wing we havent try-test anything else. Are we so confident that we will use a more loaded rear set-up and immidiatly find the sweet spot in FPs ,or THIS is the set-up (medium-low ) the car desing to have in the ,majority of the races (the fisrt 4-5 etc) ,SO we have genuine problem with the balance witch leads to degradation !!!!!!???

[JacKy]

Sainz Hit 301 KM/h without DRS
Perez Hit 295 KM/h without DRS

Same Straight , Both Flying lap.

[elnano14]

Last year we were might on corners and this year we're struggling so hard at corners
Remind me a lot of 2019....

[tifosi1993]

The rear wings the teams are using today!

High downforce: Mercedes
Medium-high: Alfa
Medium: All the others
Medium-low: Ferrari

More downforce causes better high-speed cornering and braking, and better tyre wear, at the expense of top speed and possibly more porpoising

I wonder.Is this the config we will use in the race. If it is ,it looks like we will be in trouble especially on C3s.If we switch to a more loaded one we might be better. BUT apart this morning's failed test with the new wing we havent try-test anything else. Are we so confident that we will use a more loaded rear set-up and immidiatly find the sweet spot in FPs ,or THIS is the set-up (medium-low ) the car desing to have in the ,majority of the races (the fisrt 4-5 etc) ,SO we have genuine problem with the balance witch leads to degradation !!!!!!???

Ferrari ran the entire Bahrain test with last year's low downforce RW and Beam wing, the ones they had used in SPA and Monza, which is at all not suitable for this track. Bahrain is a high downforce rear limited track where protecting the rear tyres is an upmost importance. But Ferrari ran the entire test with a package that is not suitable at all for this track.

So rather going around the track pointlessly and racking up lap counts, they actually did some meaningful testing this year. They wanted to rectify the problems of last year package and I believe they have achieved that. The SF23 has a very strong front end, which will be balanced out by the high downforce RW.

The signs are very positive.

[FerrariF60]

Ferrari ran the entire Bahrain test with last year's low downforce RW and Beam wing, the ones they had used in SPA and Monza, which is at all not suitable for this track. Bahrain is a high downforce rear limited track where protecting the rear tyres is an upmost importance. But Ferrari ran the entire test with a package that is not suitable at all for this track.

So rather going around the track pointlessly and racking up lap counts, they actually did some meaningful testing this year. They wanted to rectify the problems of last year package and I believe they have achieved that. The SF23 has a very strong front end, which will be balanced out by the high downforce RW.

The signs are very positive.

so in other words they ran the entire 3 days of testing with the low DF rear wing on purpose to throw off the competition that we may have some serious problems??? that is clever IF TRUE

and come Q3 next week we'll blitz everyone including red bull and CO.????

that would be genious.....if true

i'm still a bit concerned about all this 3 days of tests we had.....hopefully Ferrari will prove me wrong adn grab POLE and a WIN next week.....and do i dear mention a 1-2??

[tifosi1993]

Last year we were might on corners and this year we're struggling so hard at corners
Remind me a lot of 2019....

Talk about overreaction.

This is not even close to the SF90. The SF90 had a poor front end downforce which forced Ferrari to balance it out with medium downforce RW. So the car was very slippery but due to the lack of downforce, it chewed up its tyres more frequently than the Merc. The 2019 engine also masked that weakness during the qualifying.

The SF23 has a very strong front end. But instead of balancing it out with a high DF RW, Ferrari used the low DF RW of last year's. If you watch the onboard cam, you will see oversteer in medium/high speed corners, because the rear can't keep with the downforce at the front.

Ferrari have fixed the violent porpoising issue of last year's. They have also improved the aero efficiency by reducing the drag and increasing the overall downforce. A job well done.

[tifosi1993]

so in other words they ran the entire 3 days of testing with the low DF rear wing on purpose to throw off the competition that we may have some serious problems??? that is clever IF TRUE

and come Q3 next week we'll blitz everyone including red bull and CO.????

that would be genious.....if true

i'm still a bit concerned about all this 3 days of tests we had.....hopefully Ferrari will prove me wrong adn grab POLE and a WIN next week.....and do i dear mention a 1-2??

I don't think that was Ferrari's goal for this year's testing. I think they wanted to see how the car would behave with an aerodynamically imbalanced setup.

After the TD39, Ferrari were forced to raise the ride height, which resultant in a massive loss of downforce. I think they wanted to see how the car would behave with a low rear end downforce in a track like Bahrain. They also ran many different tests to see how it would affect the tyre performance.

And I think they have got the answers and are quite happy with it. After all, this is what testing is all about.

Headline times are meaningless. Bottas and his Alfa Romeo will not be P3, 5 tenths behind the pole sitter, in next week's qualifying.

[tifosi1993]

Because of the faulty DRS flap, Ferrari couldn't test the high DF RW that they had brought today. Shame.

According to the peeps at F1technical, the RW looked rather interesting.

[Aziz]

Because of the faulty DRS flap, Ferrari couldn't test the high DF RW that they had brought today. Shame.

According to the peeps at F1technical, the RW looked rather interesting.

Why didn't they use it without DRS, that's the real question

I don't like how the test went, and after hearing Fred and Lec interview I'm really not that much optimistic for this season

I believe we are in a new RB era of dominance

[stasera]

C1 stint Fernando Alonso

1:37.686
1:37.864
1:37.849
1:37.795
1:37.789
1:37.651
1:37.710
1:37.541
1:37.658

by the way they say AM is the team that has improved the most on the grid since last year.

[wisepie]

A mixture of reactions to testing and what it may mean for our chances for 2023. It's not conclusive, of course, and we appear to have degradation issues dependent on wing spec, but I'm hopeful that not going for fastest times and headlines, we have something up our sleeves which hasn't yet been shown. Hopefully Fred and Charles are deliberately down-playing things?

[tifosi1993]

Why didn't they use it without DRS, that's the real question

I don't like how the test went, and after hearing Fred and Lec interview I'm really not that much optimistic for this season

I believe we are in a new RB era of dominance

Oh well, if that's what you believe, then I see no reason for you to watch any races of this year or next couple of years. See you in 2026?

Kidding aside, who knows. Maybe they wanted to see how much they will gain by opening up the DRS, maybe they wanted see whether the new wing gives greater DRS effect or not.