With the 2023 season edging ever closer, it’s reportedly been an excellent winter break for Ferrari, who many have tipped to replicate the success they enjoyed at the start of 2022.
Charles Leclerc in particular started last season incredibly, with the Monegasque having won two of the opening three races, giving him the early label of championship favourite.
As well known by now, everything started to go wrong for Ferrari after the third round in Australia, with the vast majority of the rounds following Albert Park having seen the Italians experience some sort of issue.
Whether it was a driver error, strategic blunder or reliability issue, something always went against the Maranello-based team, in what was a theme that remained till the end of the season.
READ: Classic Ferrari Formula 1 cars spotted in Dubai
It appears, though, that the Italians are eager to right their wrongs from 2022 and have been putting in the work over the off-season.
After suffering three power unit-based retirements last season, Ferrari have been putting in the hours to solve their engine’s reliability issues, something it’s believed they’ve successfully done.
Under the current engine freeze, performance upgrades are banned, with only reliability developments being allowed.
With that in mind, it’s been reported that Ferrari have fixed their power unit issues, meaning that they’ve now got an extra 30hp at their disposal.
Whilst this was technically always there last season, Ferrari couldn’t use the full power of their engine over concerns that it’d once again fail, something which would’ve seen the Italians potentially lose second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Ferrari are entering 2023 with their power unit at full power, something that will likely give them the edge at the start of the forthcoming season.
New Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur, though, denies that the team has found an additional 30hp, labelling it as “just a joke”.
“I don’t know where the numbers are coming from but it’s just a joke,” Vasseur said.
“We’ve made some steps but it’s just about reliability.
“The performance of the engine last year was not an issue at all. The issue was reliability, and the first target is to fix it.
READ: ‘Becoming F1 world champion’ no longer Kevin Magnussen’s ‘ultimate goal in life’
“So far it looks okay, but the reality of the track is a different aspect,” Vasseur added.
“There were a couple of issues the team suffered, and it’s not just true for Ferrari.
“In terms of reliability, it came from bouncing, vibration, and everybody will have a much better picture in Bahrain in a few weeks’ time.”