F1 | McLaren aims to ‘monetise’ advantage over aero testing limits

McLaren is ready to “monetise” the aerodynamic testing saved in the first part of the Formula 1 season, after making relatively few updates in the first 14 races.

The current F1 Aerodynamic Testing Regulation (ATR) limits the amount of wind tunnel time and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) resources that can be used. These are allocated based on 2023 constructors’ championship position for the first half of the year and then adjusted to match 2024 placings after June 30.

McLaren introduced a major package in Miami, but has since brought only circuit-specific updates and minor upgrades to subsequent races.

This suggests that the team has been holding off on developments to introduce after the summer break, gaining an advantage in terms of ATR for the second half of the year over other teams that have been pushing out updates at a more consistent cadence.

As the updates planned for the second half of the year were largely conceived in the first half of the year, this gives McLaren more time to not only finalise the 2024 update programme, but also to focus on the 2025 car.

Apart from the high-downforce rear wings the team developed for Imola and Monaco, and the low-downforce ones for Silverstone and Spa, the only long-term update after Miami was a new front wing.

“Red Bull has actually brought more development to the track so far, in terms of physical parts delivered, if you look at the presentation, than we have,” said team principal Andrea Stella.

“But I can certainly speak for McLaren. It looks like we’re in a position now to take some of the development we’ve built up and put it to use on the track. I expect that for the second half of the season we’ll have some new parts on more occasions.”

Having finished third in the championship at the Austrian Grand Prix – held on 30 June, before the ATR allocation was changed – McLaren has 256 wind tunnel runs to use in each of the two-month Aerodynamic Test Periods (ATP), 64 hours in the tunnel at wind speeds above 15m/s, 320 hours of tunnel occupancy time and 1,600 new geometries to use in CFD simulations.

That’s a reduction from the first half of the year, when McLaren had more ATP to burn thanks to their fourth-place finish in last year’s championship. But for comparison, championship leader Red Bull has 224 wind tunnel runs, 56 hours at 15+ m/s, 280 hours of wind tunnel time and 1,400 new CFD geometries.

Stella agreed that McLaren had not been particularly prolific with its upgrade plan in the early part of the season, noting that it was a “surprise” that the team had managed to maintain its competitiveness.

“In a way, I’m surprised that we’ve been so competitive, considering that since Miami we haven’t brought a lot of new parts to the track,” he added. “So it means that obviously the Miami update was important. There are some updates that will come in the second half of the season.”

By taking their time with updates, McLaren can theoretically dedicate more time to their internal development, perhaps limiting the deleterious effects associated with new features, as Aston Martin and Racing Bulls have experienced this season.

Racing Bulls discovered that its chassis design was the main cause of its performance decline in Barcelona, ​​after carrying out a series of experiments in testing over the Austrian and British Grands Prix weekends.