Fred Vasseur reveals Ferrari's timeline for the next round of upgrades in the 2023 F1 season

Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed that upgrades for the SF-23 have already been designed and are in the pipeline, to be introduced in the second half of the season.

Vasseur expects the upgrades to be introduced during F1's return to Qatar in early October or at the following round in Austin, USA. The Frenchman also revealed that all development work on the SF-23 has been stopped as the team switches focus to their 2024 challenger.

"For this season we stopped wind tunnel developments at the end of July, but we have parts already deliberated and in the works that we will take to Qatar or Austin," he told Italian media Gazzetta dello Sport.

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Speaking about the SF-23's successor, Vasseur said that the design department at Maranello is busy working on the philosophical concepts of the car. The aim for the Italian team is to outfox its rivals while finding enough margins to allow its drivers to keep some extra pace in the pocket.

"For the 2024 car, we are still at the philosophical concepts. The numbers say you have to be aggressive in the design but with simulations and equations we are already at the maximum. We have to think differently, find margins by which the drivers can drive without always being on the limit," he added. "And anyway the deadline for the new car is not the end of the year, we have to be ready for Bahrain in March. We still have many months ahead of us."

The Ferrari team boss had earlier stated that their development plan for the upgrades in October will make the car four-tenths faster. He then added that, according to their current simulations, their 2024 car would be 8-tenths faster.

While the numbers will bring a smile to the faces of the Tifosi, we will have to wait and see if the simulations correlate to lap time on the track.

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Charles Leclerc admits Ferrari had to "reset" expectations after the 2023 season opener

After fighting for the championship the previous year, Ferrari entered the 2023 season with high hopes of winning the title. However, Red Bull made huge gains over the winter, leaving Ferrari and others to dust in the season opener at Bahrain.

Charles Leclerc, who retired from the Bahrain GP, admits Ferrari was humbled by the deficit.

"Before the first race, the target was to do a step better compared to last year, which was to win the world championship." he said to Formula 1.

Leclerc mentioned that the team had to reset its targets for the season and have seen progress within their means.

“If we look at the first half of the year, we are very far from where we put our expectations before the season. So, on the other hand, as soon as we understood that we reset it and there was an incredible reaction from the team," he added.

The Monegasque driver has recovered from a disastrous start to the season, capping off the first half of the season with his third podium at Spa-Francorchamps.