Why F1’s latest battleground offers unlimited opportunities

As Formula 1's push to bring costs down is limiting how much teams can use their state-of-the-art windtunnel facilities, the advancement in simulation technology and its limitless possibilities could soon be the determining factor in a team's success

Jonathan Noble Aug 12, 2021, 11:37 AM

Upd: Aug 12, 2021, 11:40 AM

There was a time when the fight between Formula 1 teams to have the best facilities revolved around windtunnels. Rivals would throw vast resources at creating bigger and better tunnels in the hope that they could help unlock the aerodynamic gains to give the winning edge on track.

But, as part of F1’s push to bring costs down and stop the big budget outfits from going over the top with ever-more expensive designs, there have been more and more restrictions on their usage in recent years. Sure there is still a benefit to be had from having as best facility as you can – which is why McLaren and Aston Martin are both building their own new bespoke tunnels right now – but it’s no longer become such a big battleground of innovation.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.