Ferrari nose develops dent in first F1 testing session

Ferrari

Ferrari nose develops dent in first F1 testing session

A bizarre situation with Ferrari's SF-23 during the first day of testing in Bahrain

Stuart Hodge

Thursday 23 February 2023 12:50 Updated: 16:45

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Carlos Sainz got behind the wheel of Ferrari's new SF-23 this morning and very quickly all eyes turned to the Prancing Horse.

When the car hit the Sakhir straight, a dent suddenly appeared in the nose of the Ferrari car. Then, under braking for the corner, the bodywork 'popped' back and the nose was back to normal.

It was a remarkable sight in the early stages of the first day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

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Sainz hit the accelerator down the straight and everyone – including, Fred Vasseur, surely – was surprised to see a dent in the bodywork at the front of his nose.

How the dent happened

The dimple in the bodywork was created by air pressure at maximum velocity applied to the nose's crash structure, with Ferrari suggesting supports within the structure had failed.

Sainz finished his run just under three-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen in the standings from the morning and a bloody (or dented) nose on the first day of testing will not be what the Scuderia will have wanted in the opening session.