According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Red Bull and Ferrari are set to start 2023 on the front foot, with both sides having made instrumental changes to their challengers for this season.
Starting with Red Bull, as dominant as they were in 2022 after claiming 17 wins from 22 races, the Austrians weren’t completely happy with the RB18.
Their 2022 car was concerningly overweight at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, something which handed Ferrari an early advantage.
For the vast majority of last year, the Milton Keynes-based outfit worked on making their car lighter, a trend that has continued over the off-season.
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According to La Gazzetta dello Sport author Paolo Filisetti, Red Bull’s 2023 challenger, which is expected to be called the RB19, will be 3kg lighter than their remarkable 2022 car, with other changes having been reported.
“The gearbox, thanks to a different placement of the suspension elements, will present a lower narrowing, increasing the section of the Venturi channels,” reported Filisetti.
“The layout of the sides will maintain strong points of contact with the 2022 car, but will be characterised by a refinement of the ‘double bottom’.”
Double World Champion Max Verstappen admitted himself last season that the team were considering a lighter chassis for 2023; however, team principal Christian Horner oddly denied such a thing was on the agenda.
“Well I don’t know where these rumours permeate from,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 last September.
“But no, there’s no plans to introduce a lighter chassis. So you know, we keep going. We’re in good shape.”
Advisor Dr Helmut Marko also admitted that being overweight was an issue for the team despite what Horner said, leading to further proof that Red Bull will unveil a lighter car for 2023.
“The main problem was being overweight, Marko told Auto Motor und Sport.
“We’re still a little over it now.”
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For Ferrari, La Gazzetta dello Sport are suggesting that the Italians 2023 car will be narrower due to an ‘aerodynamic concept that will be largely different’.
As well as this, a new gearbox is also expected so that Ferrari can ‘be more capable of increasing the competitiveness of the car’.
The Italians 2023 car is also set to be incredibly quick in a straight line, following rumours that the team’s engine will have an additional 30hp, as a result of fixing their reliability issues which tormented their 2022 campaign.