Did Ferrari Really Lose Out To Mercedes By Finishing In Third Place?

Friday, 12 January 2024 at 17:00

Scuderia Ferrari finished the 2023 Formula One Constructors Championship in third place behind Mercedes. However, there is one advantage to finishing behind.

The last race of the 2023 season in Abu Dhabi determined the battle for the second place in Championship between Mercedes and Ferrari.

The two teams went into the final race pretty much equal on points. In the end, Mercedes secured second place by a mere three points as Carlos Sainz couldn't finish in the top ten.

Mercedes's team principal made it clear that second place in the Championship meant nothing to him. But, he admitted after the final race he saw a great boost in team morale and motivation after it was clear they finished second.

Ferrari, on the other hand, finished the season on a low despite promising performances in the last few races. However, not everything is lost for the team.

The main goal of the Italian team is to compete for the Championship win. To do that, Scuderia needs to build a faster car, and guess what... Finishing in a lower place gets the F1 team more time in a wind tunnel.

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The wind tunnel is an important part of development. Time spent in wind tunnels directly affects a team's ability to introduce new upgrades to their car as they have less time to test.

In an effort to bring the grid as close together as possible, FIA introduced regulations that give F1 teams that finished at the back of the grid more time in the wind tunnel so they have better chances of catching up.

The further back a team finishes in the Constructors' Championship, the more time it will have allocated for the wind tunnel. In this case, Ferrari will have 60 hours (6,6%) more in the wind tunnel than Mercedes.

The Prancing Horse seemed to have faster cars towards the end of the season, and this could potentially extend the team's advantage over Silver Arrows.

On the contrary, Mercedes was awarded more money for their Championship position - approximately $6 million, which could be distributed among the team members in the form of bonuses to boost their morale even further.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also said he would rather take a better championship position than spend more time in a wind tunnel. Will he be right? or will Ferrari's 60 more hours in the wind tunnel make the difference? We have only 49 more days to find out.