George Russell believes that the sliding scale of wind tunnel time permitted to Formula 1 teams should reflect the amount of points scored rather than where a competitor finishes in the Constructors’ standings.
As it stands, teams that finish lower in the Constructors’ standings are permitted a greater amount of time testing in wind tunnels than the teams at the top of the pecking order.
That left Haas, the team that finished 10th in the 2023 Constructors’ championship, with a 115% allocation of wind tunnel time for the first six months of the 2024 campaign, with the rest of the allocation falling in 5% intervals until getting to the reigning champions Red Bull on 70% (the allocation is reset mid-season).
Russell argued that whilst the system is effective, a greater disparity in wind tunnel time could be implemented based on the points differential between teams.
“I think the wind tunnel thing is really good, but it’s based on positions at the moment rather than points you’ve got,” Russell told media ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
“Red Bull have been double the amount of points than the second place team of constructors and they give the same difference in wind tunnel reduction as second or third give the wind tunnel as Mercedes to Ferrari last year there was only three points difference.
“So maybe if it’s based on number of points scored rather than actual position in the championship that would help the teams catch up quicker.”
Whether the Formula 1 field needs tightening is worth discussing, given that the 2024 F1 season has seen six different winners across four different teams.
Both on paper and through results, Formula 1 is looking more competitive than ever, striking concerns that the incoming 2026 rules could blow everything apart once again.
Russell’s Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton pondered what else the sport could do other than the wind tunnel allocation to help teams that struggle within a new rule cycle to improve at a faster rate.
“Obviously we have teams further at the back have more wind tunnel time but it’s I don’t know what the solution is but is there a way of somehow helping the ones further back level off earlier so it’s not towards the end of a design era,” Hamilton said.
“But I think it would be really interesting if 2026 does exactly the same thing as it always has done then they do need to probably revisit and look at something else.”
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