With launch season officially over and the start of pre-season testing just a day away, the world has been able to see all of the liveries that will be on display in the forthcoming season; however, not all of the actual cars have yet been captured.
A number of sides opted to launch their 2023 livery using a car from 2022, in order not to give too much away to the opposition ahead of Bahrain.
Mercedes and Ferrari, though, went in the complete opposite direction and both revealed their cars for 2023, perhaps suggesting that the duo are confident about the new season.
However, Ferrari have already been asked to clarify whether their SF-23 is legal or not, following complaints made by some of the teams to the FIA.
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According to Formu1a.uno, the Maranello-based team have been asked by the FIA to clarify the legality of their S-Duct, with it having been tweaked to allow better airflow at the rear wing itself, as well as at the back of the car and low down.
Ferrari are reportedly “certain that the solutions adopted on the SF-23 are fully within the rules”, with it being incredibly common for the FIA to ask teams to clarify certain parts of their newest challenger.
It’s as a result of the sport continuing to evolve, with every team attempting to push the regulations to their absolute limit, in a bid to find any possible advantage.
Nevertheless, Ferrari are looking very good ahead of the new season, with the Italians having enjoyed so far, a successful change of leadership, with former Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur having now been in his new role as Ferrari’s team principal for just over a month.
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As well as this, the historic side have reportedly solved and repaired the reliability issues that tormented their power unit, with more power having been discovered as a result.
It’s been speculated that by fixing their power unit, Ferrari have been able to access the full power of their engine, meaning they’ll receive an additional 30hp this season.
Vasseur has downplayed this figure as nonsense, with the true likely to only be found out once the cars hit the track for qualifying in Bahrain, with the leading sides likely to sandbag their performance somewhat during pre-season testing.