McLaren boss Andrea Stella is unfazed by the reduced aerodynamic testing the team will have for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
In a bid to make the series as competitive as possible, F1 introduced tighter Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions in 2022.
The reigning Constructors’ Champion can conduct 70% of the baseline allowance of wind tunnel and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) testing with the allocations going up in 5% increments so that the team 10th in the previous year’s standings can enjoy 115% of the baseline allowance.
Thanks to its first Constructors’ title win in 26 years, McLaren will be strapped with the 70% allowance in 2025, compared to 85% this campaign.
Still, Stella revealed to Autosport that he isn’t concerned, saying: “You would always take P1 in the championship and then see how you can improve your efficiency in terms of aerodynamic development in the combination of CFD and wind tunnel time, because the two things are compounded.”
The 2024 pecking order in F1 was tighter than ever and performance from teams fluctuated from race to race and more importantly, upgrade to upgrade.
Chasing fine margins put the once-dominant Red Bull team into disarray, prompted Ferrari to make a mid-season course correction and had Mercedes chasing its tail for much of the campaign.
Because of this, Stella isn’t concerned about the amount of time McLaren spends in the wind tunnel, but rather getting the right results amid rivals falling into correlation issues.
“It’s not because I have three times the wind tunnel time I necessarily will develop the car three times faster, that’s not the case,” he explained.
“I think we have seen that this year very well, because there were developments taken trackside by some teams that not necessarily became something that was a progress.
“It’s not necessarily about quantity; we are very much investing on the quality of the development.”
New McLaren F1 wind tunnel ‘a big step forward’
Helping McLaren progress from challenger to title winner in 2024 was bringing its in-house wind tunnel online.
Previously, the team used Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany and Stella spoke positively about the change.
“The new wind tunnel is definitely a big step forward,” Stella said.
“But the big step forward is, above all, from a logistical point of view.
“I always stress that last year, both the upgrades in Austin and Singapore were designed and developed at the Toyota wind tunnel.
“But to develop things at the Toyota wind tunnel, you have the part ready, and then it’s tested two days after just because of the shipment.
“Now, we have the part ready, and it’s tested two hours after, so you just gain so much efficiency.”
However, logistical gains aside, Stella complimented McLaren’s approach to aerodynamic testing and development.
This is what he attributes the team’s successful development down to.
“But in reality, chasing efficiency is not only thanks to the wind tunnel, but is in the whole approach to aerodynamic development,” he said.
“And I have to say that we have seen – we have experienced ourselves – that even if you have more and more restrictions, from a development point of view, the way you generate the knowledge, the efficiency, is by far the most important thing.”
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