Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur thinks that System 1’s aerodynamic testing restrictions might be a “recreation changer” subsequent yr if groups intentionally write off the season to achieve a bonus for 2026.
F1 is approaching its subsequent guidelines period in two years’ time, when revamped turbo hybrid engines with elevated battery energy can be matched with all-new aerodynamic laws.
The wholesale change coming means groups are already unlikely to decide to main redesigns for subsequent yr, as a result of they don’t need to divert an excessive amount of useful resource from the subsequent technology vehicles.
Nonetheless, Vasseur thinks that some squads might even be minded to sacrifice their efficiency over the course of subsequent season to present themselves most wind tunnel growth time for 2026 – which might show to be a big achieve.
Talking about if the aerodynamic testing guidelines, which apply a sliding scale of allowance primarily based on constructors’ championship positions, might show decisive in dictating the pace of groups, Vasseur stated that the state of affairs could be completely totally different to how it’s now.
“It is not important on this interval if somebody has a bonus and is given extra [wind tunnel] runs,” he stated. “That’s as a result of as we speak we’re making such small progress every run.
Frederic Vasseur, Staff Principal and Common Supervisor, Scuderia Ferrari, Christian Horner, Staff Principal, Pink Bull Racing
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Pictures
“However the recreation changer might be ’26 since you might have some groups which are maybe not combating for the championship subsequent yr that determine: ‘Okay, for ’25 we do not care if we’re Px [in the constructors’] and we do not care if we’re x plus two or x minus two. We’ll simply go full on the ’26 venture.
“If you’re combating for one thing, you should have the temptation to do extra for ’25 plus, [and] on the highest [of that], the opposite groups have already got extra, as a result of they’re Px in comparison with P1 within the desk. So the Px can be absolutely targeted on ’26 however the P1 can be cut up [across the two seasons].”
F1’s ATR dictates the quantity of wind tunnel time and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capability that can be utilized for an “aerodynamic testing interval” (ATP) of two months, primarily based on championship place.
It is a sliding scale, the place the staff that finishes first within the championship begins a brand new interval with 70% of the baseline allowance, in 5% increments as much as the 115% multiplier for ending tenth, in an effort to create nearer grids.
The tables are reset twice per yr primarily based on the constructors’ championship place at the moment. One allocation runs from 1 January to 30 June, whereas the opposite runs from 1 July to 31 December.
The present ranges, which had been determined after this yr’s Austrian Grand Prix, are detailed beneath.
The mid-season reset might be what groups could goal, as being decrease down midway by the season might maximise wind tunnel testing for the remainder of the yr forward of 2026.
