Frédéric Vasseur, new Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, has labelled rumours of 30hp leap by the team as a “joke”. There is much interest about what power plant manufacturer have to offer in 2023.
The authorities have restricted teams from engine modification since the start of last season. Many teams have risked their reliability over a bid to exploit the performance of their cars.
Both Ferrari and Renault, which powers the Alpine team, conceded to have pushed things to the limit. The teams have risked it for their long term gains. The teams have played around the regulations to improve the reliability. However, it does not permit straight performance gains.
Ferrari struggled with engine reliability during the middle of 2022 season. It had to pull back to normal in order to identify and manage things better. It helped the team managed the closing stages of the season.
At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari managed to deliver reliability. The tweaks helped the team to recover its power, which is estimated around 15hp.
Reportedly, the efforts over the winter has helped the team to unlock a further advantage of 15hp. The team is expected to exploit the unlocked potential after gaining more control over its reliability.
This triggered speculations of 30hp gain at the end of Ferrari for 2023. The 30hp is additional to available power during last year.
Vasseur dismisses claims
Vasseur has laughed off on such wild speculations. He played down any advantage that the team has gained over the winter.
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“I don’t know where the numbers are coming from, but it’s just a joke,” he said. “We made some step but it’s just about reliability.
“I think the performance last year of the engine was not an issue at all. The issue was the reliability and the first target is to fix it.
“So far it looks okay. But the reality of the track is a different aspect.
“I think there were a couple of issues that teams suffered from, and it’s not just true for Ferrari. It’s coming from the track operation, bouncing and vibration, and everybody will have a much better picture in Bahrain in a bit more than two weeks’ time.”
