"Oh, they have the wrong car": McLaren F1 legend on when he found out Ferrari did not have a competitive car for 2023 F1 season

Former McLaren F1 driver and world champion Mika Hakkinen recently spoke about the glaring issues that Ferrari encountered with the SF-23. The Italian team started off the 2023 F1 season on the back foot, as they were simply unable to stay ahead on the grid. They only have three podiums and no wins so far.

Speaking about Ferrari's woes with Gazzetta dello Sport and quoted by Motorsport.com, Hakkinen started off with how he was quick to decipher the massive issues the car had, especially when it went through some corners. The problems were even bigger simply because other top teams, especially Red Bull, looked extremely strong.

“Seeing it [SF-23] in action in certain corners, I said to myself, ‘Oh, they have the wrong car.' The drivers after the first outing said they had small problems, but from my point of view, it was really big trouble, even more so because the Red Bull was flying," Hakkinen said.

Furthermore, he remarked that Ferrari could recover from the slump they are in. He pointed towards his old team, McLaren, which was a testament to how quickly fortunes can change for a team just by introducing the right upgrade package. Hakkinen added:

“But recovery is possible: what McLaren did recently is a great example. No one in Woking has pointed the finger at anyone, they have worked hard. What makes the difference is the people.”

The Prancing Horse is currently fourth in the F1 constructors' championship with 191 points.

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Frederic Vasseur on Ferrari's development timeline till the start of the 2024 F1 season

Frederic Vasseur assures everyone that Ferrari will soon start to cut down lap times and improve the SF-23's performance. The French team principal claims that his team's F1 car will cut down a couple of tenths each and every month after the summer break. Furthermore, their 2024 F1 car will further reduce its lap times by four-tenths of a second. Speaking in an interview with Autosprint, he said:

"We have a development plan which tells us that our car will be two-tenths faster in September, another two in October, another four in 2024. We have our work plan and we cannot waste time synchronizing with that of the others, which between the other we do not know."

Ferrari have been facing several issues with their cars, specifically in the tire degradation department. Once they fix the degradation issue, they will continue to squeeze more performance out of the car and push it to its limits.