Boosting driver confidence key to F1 progress

Ferrari thinks that boosting driver confidence in its SF-23 is now critical in helping it close the gap to Red Bull in Formula 1.

The Italian outfit has had a challenging first half to the 2023 season, with its car struggling to deliver consistent performances in races despite being quick over a single lap.

It has made some pretty good gains with recent upgrades, though, and feels that it is beginning to edge nearer the dominant Red Bull team.

Team principal Fred Vasseur thinks that critical now in making that final step to fight for wins is in delivering a car that gives drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz more confidence because he thinks they are unable to extract all the potential out of it.

Reflecting on the opening phase of the season, Vasseur told Motorsport.com’s Italian site that lap time has been bleeding away because the car’s handling does not inspire faith.

“It wasn’t just a question of pure performance, because something happened that affected the drivers’ confidence in the car,” said Vasseur.

“When you enter a corner and you have a loss of load aerodynamic, it also causes a loss of balance. Therefore, you start to feel understeer. Add the wind, from one lap to the next which is never the same, and never has the same intensity, and the difficulties add up.

“We don’t have performance stability. So lap after lap we lose a little performance from our drivers, because they never have the same conditions and they lose confidence in the car.

“We have to try to put the drivers more at the centre of our priorities. It isn’t the easiest or even the fastest way [to progress] because it would be much easier to add downforce everywhere.

“But it happens that from one weekend to the next we have very different performances. We have good sensations in one grand prix while, in the next, it can happen that we do badly.”

No copying tactics

With sorting driver confidence now the priority at Ferrari, Vasseur says that it is more important that his engineers focus on the team’s own car rather than pursue copycat designs like rivals have done.

“We are working to try to improve where we are weak because it is the right approach compared to trying to copy someone else,” he said.

“The hardest part of the job is understanding exactly where the weaknesses are and then fixing them.

“From this point of view, we made a good step forward after Australia and then another after Barcelona, even if there are still some weaknesses, especially in extreme conditions.

“Sometimes when you introduce a new package and you have little time to try it, you struggle to understand if you’ve used the wrong set-up. Maybe you were expecting to earn a tenth…