The first day of pre-season testing for the 2023 Formula 1 season provided some stars, both old and new. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, seeking his third-straight Drivers’ Championship, posted the fastest lap time during the morning session at Bahrain International Circuit.
Ferrari’s ‘dimple’ the star of early F1 pre-season testing
Eagle-eyed viewers and commentators noticed something new about the SF-23 during the first testing session
Photo by Ayman Yaqoob/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
Then there was one of the new stars.
The Ferrari “dimple.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. posted the second-fastest lap time of the morning session, just behind the time set by Verstappen. But eagle-eyed viewers and commentators noticed a dimple in the nose cone of their SF-23, Ferrari’s challenger for the 2023 F1 season:
As outlined by the commentators, the nose cone is a thin piece of carbon fiber, and at the end of long straights, that carbon fiber gave way a little. When Sainz slowed and/or applied the brakes, that carbon fiber would return to its normal position.
The dimple led to speculation that perhaps Ferrari was seeking to gain something aerodynamically with the design, perhaps looking to shave off a few milliseconds here and there with the flex at the front of the SF-23. However, that speculation was quickly shot down by the team. Following the morning session, Ferrari indicated that the dimple was “not intended,” and that a fix for the dimple would be expected.
It was fun while it lasted.
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