Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen said about the 2024 season: “This title is very important because we haven’t had the best car for a long time.” And this is exactly what can now be a benefit.
The 2024 Formula 1 World Championship ended like this in the Constructors’ Cup: McLaren won its first title since 1998, Ferrari took second place, Red Bull Racing dropped to third place because the team took a bad turn in development and needed months to build work. out the details to understand why good driving habits had disappeared.
However, this ambition of RBR offers an advantage: according to the regulations of F1, the racing team is allowed to work more on aerodynamics than McLaren and Ferrari for 2025 and 2026.
Since 2021, the rules of the first division have specified how many times teams are allowed to go to the fairway and how many flow calculations they are allowed to perform.
The thinking behind it: Those who are behind (like Sauber in 2024) should have the chance to move again through further aerodynamic development; Those who set the pace, as McLaren often did in the second half of the season, have to accept the limitations.
This season will be divided into two parts: the status in the 2024 Constructors’ Cup will be valid until the end of June 2025, and from July to December 2025 the status of the World Cup on June 23, 2025 is valid.
This ATR (aerodynamic test rule) specifies: According to the guidelines, the winner of the constructors’ cup (i.e. McLaren) is only allowed to grow 70 percent in the first half of 2025, then it will drop in steps of five percent to the bottom. of the championship (Safi), which comes to 115 percent.
In other words: Sauber gets 45 percent more aerodynamic development time than McLaren.
Depending on the status of the World Cup in 2024, the teams will have the next development period in the first half of 2025.
McLaren 70% (224 wind tunnel hours, 1400 CFD calculations)
Ferrari 75% (240/1500)
Red Bull Racing 80% (256/1600)
Mercedes 85% (272/1700)
Aston Martin 90% (288/1800)
Alpine 95% (304/1900)
Haas 100% (320/2000)
Racing Bull 105 % (336/2100)
Williams 110% (352/2200)
Sauber 115% (368/2300)
A big difference to the work of aerodynamicists a year ago: From January 1, 2025, work can be carried out in the wind tunnel and with computer calculations on racing cars of the 2026 generation.
Experts therefore have to carefully weigh how much development they want to invest in the 2025 race and how much in 2026.
