Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto admitted that the Maranello team will not gain a huge advantage as a result of the new Formula One wind tunnel rules, that have the aim of helping under-performing teams.
The 2021 Formula 1 championship was marked by the introduction of a wind tunnel handicap system, which states that the strongest teams from the previous year have less time available in the wind tunnel as compared to their rivals. For example Renault [which this year races under the Alpine brand] ended last season in fifth position and as a result they are the ‘base’ team, and can spend 100 percent of the allotted time in the wind tunnel.
According to the final standings of the 2020 Constructor Standings, Mercedes have 90 percent of the testing allocation, which translates to 36 runs in the wind tunnel per week. This increases by 2.5 percent on a position-by-position basis, all the way down to Williams, which has an allowance of 112.5% or 45 runs per week.
Scuderia Ferrari, who last season had a very disappointing year and finished only sixth, will have the chance to get an extra 12.5 percent more time in the wind tunnel than Mercedes this year, yet Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto does not feel the team will gain significant advantages as a result of this situation:
“The wind tunnel, in terms of balance or performance, if we look at it obviously for the position we finished last year, we’ve got some more time at the wind tunnel. The extra time we’ve got is corresponding to what we call a ‘session’ at the wind tunnel on the entire season. So it’s an extra session and normally an expectation is a week of development. Normally a week of development is less than 0.1 seconds per lap. So yes, it’s certainly an advantage, but it’s less than 0.1 seconds per lap. Still important, still happy to have it, not because of the result of last year, because it’s something we’ve got in 2021. But I don’t believe that’s a game-changer.”
The more time in the wind tunnel will be especially crucial for next year when Formula 1 introduces a new set of technical regulations.
Leave a Reply