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The 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP did not go as planned for Ferrari. Though the scarlet team did not struggle with any reliability issues, there were several concerns regarding their development path. This was mainly because several new parts that were introduced in the race did not work as they were intended to.
Coming into the race weekend in Jeddah, the Maranello-based outfit brought in the most new parts and ideas for their car. Apart from changing the control unit on Charles Leclerc's car, they also brought in a new front wing and underbody and even redesigned the rear mono-pylon with heavier profiles.
Based on wind tunnel and simulator tests, these new parts were supposed to help the car run with minimal ground clearance. Unfortunately, this did not translate accurately onto the track.
When they tried to run the car low to the ground, the splitter was damaged and the tire wear drastically increased. Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz also found the changes to be unpleasant and experienced a lot of tire degradation. Hence, Ferrari was forced to change the ride height, the stiffness of the suspensions, and the front wing angles to improve the performance.
Ferrari was hoping to close the gap on Red Bull and start their championship battle in Saudi Arabia. Instead, they took a step back and finished the race behind Aston Martin and Mercedes.
Frederic Vasseur unhappy with Ferrari's result in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari's new team principal, was disappointed with his team's performance in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. Though the first half of the race was good for the scarlet team, Vasseur pointed out that they didn't have enough pace in the latter stages. He said:
"No, it's not a good result. The first stint went well with the soft and medium, we were on the pace and Charles did a good first part of the race and then with the hard we struggled a lot more and we didn't have the pace."
He added:
"The most difficult in my business after a race like this is to understand what is going well and what is not. We have positive points, but we need a step on reliability. Even for the first stint of the race, we can be happy with it, but the race was based on the last stint and clearly, we did not have the pace."
Carlos Sainz finished sixth, while Charles Leclerc finished behind him in seventh. This puts Ferrari behind Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Red Bull, which is a huge step back from where they started and finished in the 2022 F1 season.
