Ferrari using Mercedes' banned front wing is a 'bit of fakery', feels respected F1 technical analyst

When Ferrari unveiled their new car for the 2023 F1 season, several people recognized something fishy about the front wing. Soon enough, Craig Scarborough, a renowned F1 technical analyst, explained how the front wing was somewhat copied by Mercedes' car from last year, which was eventually banned by the FIA.

Scarborough delves into the front wing's details on F1 journalist Peter Windsor's YouTube channel, revealing how the part was copied from one of the W13's front wings, which Mercedes introduced as an upgrade later in the 2022 F1 season. Despite the Italian team making minor changes to the copied front wing, Scarborough feels it is still illegal to use. He said:

“On the front of the car is the slot gap separators, the little supports that hold the little bits in between the front wing. Now they’ve copied something that Mercedes brought last year, which were these fin-shaped ones. Ferrari have done them ever so slightly differently. To my understanding, I think these are illegal.”

The F1 technical analyst further speculated that Ferrari could have tricked fans and analysts like himself to focus on the front wing and ignore the rest of the bodywork which might hide other secrets of the car. Although this front wing could be used during pre-season testing, the team will almost certainly remove it before the main race weekend due to the FIA's ban on the part. Scarborough said:

“I think this is a bit of subterfuge, just something to catch people’s eyes and maybe not look at some other little details on the car. That’s quite interesting. Personally, I don’t expect to see those vanes on the car when we get to the first race. They may appear in testing, perhaps, when you’re allowed to do stuff like that, but I think that is just a little bit of fakery going on.”

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Ferrari team principal might make some 'small adjustments' to the strategy team in the future

Ferrari's new team principal, Frederic Vasseur, recently gave a subtle warning to the team's strategists. The scarlet team made some dubious decisions and strategies that cost them positions and points in the 2022 F1 season. Although the Frenchman does not want to immediately start making changes to his strategy team, he might do so later in 2023 if the problems persist.

According to Motorsport, Vasseur said:

“[It would be] arrogant from my side to take action on the technical organisation after two weeks. It will be time, after a couple of weeks or months, to take action if it’s not working. Yes, we’ll make some small adjustments.”

Mattia Binotto, Ferrari's former team principal, had to step down from his role partially because of all the strategic mishaps made by the team in 2022.