However, a combination of poor reliability, strategy and driver errors, and rapid progress from Red Bull, meant that the team was unable to sustain its championship challenge for long enough.
But although its title hopes faded, that did not stop it trying to continue to eke out performance from its 2022 challenger.
As the F1-75 was unveiled, it became apparent that the team had returned to the triangular roll over hoop and airbox design of it 2020 challenger, dispensing with the two channels that had flanked it in 2021 and made the airbox appear to be more of an oval. The L-shaped winglets mounted on the side of the airbox also remained.
Ferrari, like many others on the grid, wished to build in some adaptability with its nose design and opted to employ a vanity panel on the forward section. This would allow it to make changes easily, without the huge financial burden of designing, building and crash testing an entirely new nose.
In the front view, without the vanity panel in place, we can see how the structural portion of the nose doesn’t extend all the way to the tip, allowing the team to make changes to how it connects to the front wing, if necessary.
The original floor edge design employed by Ferrari saw a small cutout towards the rear third of the floor, with another tongue-like flap that bobbed out from beneath. The flap being housed at a different height to the floor would help redirect the airflow before the rear tyre and thus help mitigate some of the effects posed by tyre squirt.
The stylised sidepod solution seen on the F1-75 proved to be a very different approach to what most teams had opted for in 2022, with the bathtub-like central depression not only providing a very different visual but also an interesting aerodynamic spin, especially when you consider the cooling gills that lined the bodywork.
Having noted the edge wing design of McLaren’s during the first pre-season test / shakedown in Barcelona, Ferrari tried its own version in Bahrain. The design was an expansion upon its preconceived idea, albeit with a much larger edge wing and flap now able to influence the airflow. You’ll also note that Ferrari added a metal stay for the rear section of the floor to help reduce flexibility.
Images from the pitlane of the F1-75 in various states of undress gave us the desired view of the bib section, which is not only hinged under the chassis to allow some deflection, there’s also a damper employed to help control it.
Ferrari introduced a new, lower downforce, spoon-shaped rear wing iteration for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as the team looked to shed some drag for the high speed sectors.
A shot of the F1-75 as it was being prepared for action but bereft of the sidepod bodywork reveals how the radiators are positioned and the baffles attached to help improve flow around them. Also note how the intake has a mounting that attaches it to the lower side impact spar.
Ferrari made changes to the boat tail section of the diffuser in Australia, narrowing the central section to alter the available volume and improve ride height sensitivity.
The underfloor of the F1-75 proved to be an area where the team spent plenty of resources as it searched for more performance.
A look at the rear brake assembly without the caliper pipework and drum in place, noting the winglet stack on the interior side of the fence, along with the rearward facing outlet.
Another angle showing off the brake winglet stack, which not only have multiple rows but are split up into smaller sections too.
Ferrari added an ‘Ice Skate’ to the edge of the underfloor similar to the one first introduced by Red Bull. The skate not only assists aerodynamically but it also limits the floor's travel to improve ride height sensitivity.
Ferrari added a high downforce rear wing to its suite of options for the Spanish Grand Prix, with the spoon-shaped mainplane and the upper flap’s geometry altered across the wing’s span to help produce more downforce.
Changes were also made to the outer floor fence, enlarging the surface when compared with the old specification (dotted yellow line). Also note the bib wing which the team copied ahead of its own launch, having seen a version on the Aston Martin which had launched its car a week earlier than the Scuderia.
The changes made to the underfloor included a stepped edge to the boat tail section of the floor [1], a different cutout and edge wing arrangement and the ice skate strake [2].
A look at the F1-75’s front brake assembly without the drum in place, showing the inlet that straddles the fence, the pipework that delivers cool air to the caliper and is treated with a thermal coating. It’s also worth noting that Ferrari didn’t use a fairing to cover the brake disc like many of its rivals did, which does have a bearing on the transfer of heat between the various surfaces.
The lower downforce rear wing that Ferrari had at its disposal in Miami but opted not to race reappeared in Baku. The wing featured a much shallower central mainplane section, resulting in a steeper transition in the outer section.
Another new specification rear wing appeared for the Canadian Grand Prix but was only available for Charles Leclerc. It had features that reduced downforce and drag in a different way to the specification used by Sainz.
A look at the sidepod intake without the radiator in place shows the spars used to help alter the course of the airflow as it approaches.
Ferrari made changes to the wing mirror housing and stalks at the British Grand Prix, with the inboard stalk sharpened to create more of a vortex generating surface and the outboard stalk moved to make room on the housing for the introduction of a couple of extra vortex inducing fins.
The sidepod bodywork was altered for the British Grand Prix, with the undercut tightened to improve the airflow’s passage to the rear of the car.
Alterations were also made at the rear of the sidepod and engine cover bodywork to help improve internal and external flow.
To help redistribute the airflow’s passage both under and over the floor, the team made a change to the height of the floor’s leading edge, creating a two-tier surface, rather than just the more simplified graduation seen before and elsewhere.
The split level floor can be seen here in the rear ¾ view, along with the changes made to the outer floor fence, which had been enlarged further still when compared with the outgoing specification (inset).
Another angle to look at the changes to the floor’s leading edge [1] and outer floor fence [2], whilst also giving us an opportunity to see the changes made to the floor’s central section, as the team took inspiration from others by adding more contouring [3].
Ferrari had a brief spell during FP1 for the Belgian Grand Prix where it tried the rear wing designated for Monza. This not only provided clues as to whether it would perform as expected at the Italian Grand Prix but opened the door for its use in Belgium, if it didn’t result in too much time being lost in the middle sector. The team opted to return to the option previously seen at Baku in order to better serve that middle sector, whilst not dramatically impacting the first and third sectors.
The lower downforce wing seen in Belgium made a return for the Italian Grand Prix, albeit with the one-off livery emblazoned upon it.
A new, single element, beam wing was also employed at Monza, as the team looked to reduce downforce and drag for the high speed venue.
In order to balance the car front-to-rear the team also trimmed the front wing’s upper flap.
An overview of the rear layout of Charles Leclerc’s steering wheel shows that the Monegasque driver prefers a single, long-arm clutch paddle with finger sockets; he operates with his right hand.
Meanwhile, Sainz continues with a similar layout to his time at McLaren, with two paddles, one either side, which allows him to choose which he’ll use to modulate the clutch. Note that the gear selector paddles are also shaped differently as a consequence.
The Japanese Grand Prix marked the point in the calendar where the Scuderia turned cheek on 2022 completely, having switched development to its 2023 challenger long before that. The outer floor fence, which had been the focus of a great deal of development for the team, was reprofiled once more, with the lower forward cutout shape changed once more.
Meanwhile, work had been done to improve the strength of the floor whilst reducing some of its weight, resulting in the metal stay being moved to a higher position on the inboard ramped portion of the floor.
For comparison, this is the older floor specification with the metal stay on the outboard section of the floor, whilst the carbon weave (inset) of the floor had also been reoriented.
To help gather some real world data for 2023, Ferrari ran a different floor specification at the last race of the season, in Abu Dhabi. The floor featured a revised section just ahead of the rear wheels, with the lip of the floor rolled upwards, rather than being turned down (inset, right).
