Fred Vasseur confirms ‘no issue at all’ with Ferrari S-duct amidst reported rival scrutiny
Carlos Sainz tests Ferrari SF-23 on the opening morning of pre-season testing in Bahrain. Bahrain February 2023
Ferrari principal Fred Vasseur said the FIA is satisfied after reports in Italy of rival scrutiny over the Scuderia’s S-duct solution.
The innovation is far from unseen in Formula 1, traditionally positioned on the front nose and used to limit the impact of turbulent air from cars in front, minimising loss of downforce when following closely by channelling dirty air from the front of the car into areas where it will have less aerodynamic impact.
However, Italian outlet Formu1a.uno are reporting that Ferrari has come up with a new spin on the component, which implements it into the sidepods in order to channel air coming out towards the rear wing and beam wing, with an opening at the back of the sidepods allowing the air through to the rear of the car.
In theory, this boosts aerodynamic performance, and unsurprisingly therefore teams are said to be wanting clarification from the FIA over the legality of Ferrari’s solution.
The teams are now getting stuck into pre-season testing action at the Bahrain International Circuit, ahead of the opening round of F1 2023 there on the following weekend, and Vasseur kept it short and sweet when confirming that the FIA has not seen any need to intervene.
“Well, as you may know, all the teams are in contact with the FIA,” he said when asked by PlanetF1.com in a Bahrain press conference.
“And we did exactly the same and there is no issue at all.”
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Ferrari will of course be hoping that the FIA continues to give the all-clear to keep their innovation on the SF-23, as they could not afford any potential game-changing loss in their bid to bounce back from a tricky 2022.
The F1-75 was a title-contender in the early stages, initially the strongest package on the grid, but after letting Red Bull off the hook with reliability troubles, plus strategy and driver errors, Ferrari ultimately switched their focus to the SF-23 as Red Bull romped to the 2022 title double.
