An interesting component of the changes that took effect from 2021 onwards is the handicap system for wind tunnel and CFD tests, which determines which team can spend the number of hours on testing based on their ranking in the constructors’ championship.
The purpose of the rule, of course, is to bring the field closer together and see the closest races, and after the introduction of the 2021 and 2022 cars, we will see the result for the first time:
The scale will be in 2021 such that the difference in value changes by 2.5 percent for each position, by 100%, or about 40 hours a week, at number five.
Thus, the 2020 Mercedes World Championships could spend 90% of the time in the wind tunnel, while Williams could spend 112.5%, which is about 36 and 45 hours. As of 2022, the scale will continue to expand and the seventh position will already be 100%, and from there it will increase and decrease by 5%, so the first place will be 70% and the tenth position will be 115%. That is, the permissible development period will range from 28 to 46 hours.
a McLaren In intense competition, at the last Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, he finished third as a constructor of the 2020 season, almost making it. He would get 38 hours, and team leader Andreas Seidel said they had never considered giving up a better position against Racing Point and Renault due to changes in the development system.
“Of course we are also aware of the differences between the different classifications, but I think those differences are very small at the moment for many,” the McLaren captain quotes as a Dutch version of Motorsport.com.
“We wake up every morning with the goal of defeating our opponents, and we’re just busy doing the best job possible.”
And when it comes to finances, it was hugely rewarding for McLaren to get 3 seats, even in the current period of coronavirus: McLaren, according to Auto Motor und Sport, had $ 8 million more in F1 prize pool than Racing Point.
Seidl also admitted that before the season, he couldn’t even fight for third place in 2020, but not because of their performance:
“Nobody expected Ferrari to face such problems. When we saw the Racing Point in Barcelona and understood the principles behind creating that car, it seemed that third place there was a long way off.”
McLaren says they are doing very well with their 2021 car.
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