With the Belgian Grand Prix, Formula 1 is close to returning on track for the second half of the 2021 championship, although the attention of the factory teams is now largely turned to next season. In fact, in 2022 the new regulations that come into force will create the possibility to change the rankings seen in recent years and will last between three and four years, which is why the design of new cars takes on even greater importance in the light of future prospects. Almost all teams that make up the line-up have therefore frozen the development of the current single-seaters, having to manage the available resources increasingly limited by the sporting regulations.
From 1 January 2021 in particular, what has been renamed as an aerodynamic handicap made its debut: it consists in limiting the aerodynamic tests and simulations of the individual teams with a weight inversely proportional to the position in the championship standings, in order to ensure greater balance. The regulation includes the number of tests that can be carried out in the wind tunnel, the hours of occupation of the tunnel itself and the hours of tests, the latter defined as the time during which the air speed in the wind tunnel exceeds 50 km / h. The aerodynamic handicap also defines the percentages of resources that can be used for computerized CFD simulations, taking into account both the simulation time and the technologies of the processors used.
The regulation provides for the allocation of 100% of the resources and of the wind tunnel exploitation time to the team that occupies the fifth position in the constructors’ standings, then progressively decreasing this percentage for the top teams and increasing it instead for the teams at the bottom of the ranking. In detail, the wind tunnel tests and CFD simulations conducted in the first half of 2021 were defined by the aerodynamic handicap determined by the final constructors’ classification of the 2020 Formula 1 season. However, as per regulations, starting from 1 July the parameters have been modified on the basis of the constructors’ classification valid as of 31 June 2021, i.e. at the end of the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
It should be emphasized that each team is free to manage the resources granted by the aerodynamic handicap within the eight-week interval, thus being able to freely decide on their distribution over this period of time. In the tables below, however, it was decided to report the parameters calculated on the basis of the single week, although the regulatory limit is expressed in reference to the eight-week period.
Several changes as compared to the first half
Despite Mercedes leading the current constructors’ standings, the classification valid as of June 31 saw Red Bull in the lead. Compared to the first semester, therefore, the Anglo-Austrian team loses about 30 hours of wind tunnel occupation and 6 hours of actual testing, also discounting a 2.5% reduction in resources for CFD simulations.
McLaren retains the same resources available in the first half of 2021, while Ferrari’s fourth place in the standings in June compared to sixth in 2021 means 5% less CFD resources for the Maranello team. Added to this is the reduction of 60 hours of wind tunnel occupancy for the second half of the year, while 90 more hours are available compared to Red Bull, the first in the standings. Similarly, the hours of testing in the gallery for the second half of 2021 for Ferrari are 234, as compared 246 in the first half and 216 currently granted to Red Bull itself.
AlphaTauri rises to fifth place which, with two more positions in the standings compared to seventh place in 2021, in the second half suffers the same loss in aerodynamic resources already illustrated for Ferrari. On the other hand, the situation is reversed for Aston Martin, which loses two positions compared to fourth place in 2021, thus being able to count on an increase in the tests that can be performed, like Alpine, which in June occupied the seventh place in the ranking, although after the success in Budapest it has gained three places.
As for McLaren, also for Alfa Romeo the aerodynamic resources for the second half of the year reflect those of the first half of 2021. Instead, the aerodynamic handicap at the bottom of the ranking changes for Williams and Haas, with the Groove team that was ninth as of June 31st among the constructors thanks to the twelfth place of Russell in France, better than the thirteenth position of Mick Schumacher in Baku. As a direct consequence, Haas will thus be able to count on a further increase in the resources granted for CFD simulations and in the use of the wind tunnel.
Overall, a difference of close to 270 hours emerges between Red Bull and Haas as regards the occupation of the wind tunnel in the second half of the year, with a difference of about 50 hours in terms of tunnel testing hours and 22.5% for CFD resources. On the other hand, there is a difference of over 70 tests that can be performed in the wind tunnel in the single reference period of eight weeks.
The second half of the 2021 Formula 1 championship will determine the manufacturers’ classification on which the aerodynamic handicap parameters will depend for the first half of 2022, a crucial period for the development of the new single-seaters. Furthermore, from next year, the aerodynamic handicap will be even more influential, since the differences in the allocation of resources between the individual positions will be double compared to the current ones.
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