Formula 1 could completely eliminate wind tunnels by 2030

The world of Formula 1 is always moving towards the future and so, while teams and drivers prepare to face the 2023 Formula 1 season and Audi has already officially announced its entry into the category for 2026, there are already those who are pushing even further, starting to think about what could be the new features to be introduced in the championship for 2030. The year is not chosen randomly given that it represents the deadline decided by Formula 1 to achieve neutrality from the point of view of carbon emissions. The wind tunnels, which have become essential for the teams in the last decade, also become part of this discussion, with the progressive elimination of private tests on the track. Yet they too may soon become a thing of the past.

In fact, in the future, the sport could decide to rely exclusively on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the design of the cars. In addition to a lower polluting impact, teams could save costs in this way. In fact, using the wind tunnel for an entire season costs a team more than one million euros a year. The other side of the coin, however, could be to distort the very essence of Formula 1. And of course not everyone is convinced that completely banning the use of wind tunnels would benefit the premier category of motorsport.

The head of aerodynamics at Haas, Arron Melvin, tried to explain his point of view in an interview for the RacingNews365 website, underlining how even more rigid limits of use could rather be introduced, without reaching a total dismantling. “Totally eliminating wind tunnels? I don’t think it’s smart, in terms of cost effectiveness – explained Arron Melvin – it’s good to have precise rules and encourage us to push the limit of CFD capabilities. I would therefore be very much in favor of regulations that change the balance. But the industry is so good at wind tunnel testing that there’s no need to ban it. Indeed, it would be possible to gradually reduce them to a much lower level of investment”. The future of Formula 1 and of motorsport as a whole will also depend on these decisions.

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