After years of watching others triumph, McLaren is back at the top of Formula 1. With the result achieved just days ago in Abu Dhabi, the British team claimed the Constructors’ Championship once again after the distant 1998. However, winning in 2024 could have its negative effects in 2025. The reason? The wind tunnel.
One of the disadvantages of finishing the year at the top is that the team will have less time in the wind tunnel. This translates into fewer aerodynamic tests starting next year, a period when teams begin working on their car designs for 2026.
The sporting regulations of Formula 1 include so-called aerodynamic testing restrictions, which set a scale of time allowed in the wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capacity for teams. The team that finishes first in the championship starts with 70%, with a 5% increase for each team up to the 115% reserved for the 10th-placed team.
But even though this theoretically puts McLaren at a slight disadvantage for 2025 compared to its main rivals like Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes, Andrea Stella believes that his team can overcome any deficit they might face.
McLaren at a Disadvantage in 2025? Stella Speaks
Talking about the reduction in time, Andrea Stella said: “It would always be preferable to be P1 in the championship and then see how to improve efficiency in terms of aerodynamic development in the combination of CFD and wind tunnel time, because the two go hand in hand.”
“The new wind tunnel is definitely a big step forward,” he continued, referring to the new Woking facility that replaced the previous Toyota one in Cologne. “But the big leap forward is, above all, from a logistical standpoint.”
“Last year, both the updates in Austin and Singapore were designed and developed in the Toyota wind tunnel. That means the parts were ready and tested two days later due to shipping times.”
“Now we have the parts ready and test them two hours later, so you get a considerable efficiency boost. But in reality, the search for efficiency doesn’t just happen through the wind tunnel, but through the entire approach to aerodynamic development.”
Andrea Stella concluded his statement essentially ruling out the possibility that less time in the wind tunnel would mean a tough start for McLaren in 2025. “It’s not because I have three times the wind tunnel time that I’ll necessarily develop the car three times faster; that’s not the case,” he said.
“I think we’ve seen that very well this year, because there were developments from some teams that didn’t necessarily turn into something progressive. It’s not necessarily a matter of quantity; we invest a lot in the quality of development.”
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