How wind-tunnel testing can make or break an F1 season

“It gives us a very accurate understanding on the forces around the car and, if we do an update, what it would do for us,” Fallows said. “It shows us what lap time or performance gain we could get.”

Engineers also communicate with the team’s drivers and principal to develop the car to their liking and identify problems on a track-by-track basis.

“Some of the research is just stabilizing the car to make it easier to drive,” Fallows said. “We split it between testing for outright performance and also track-dependent issues.”

Aerodynamics era

In recent years, the wind tunnel has become more essential to the development of a Formula 1 car. Since 2022, car regulations have emphasized downforce and airflow, making aerodynamics vital.

“Our race cars are currently in an aerodynamics era,” said Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren. “Sometimes, in the past, we’ve been in a power-unit era, for example — but the emphasis on aerodynamics right now makes the wind tunnel critically important.”

The wind tunnel is so crucial that Formula 1 has restricted the time that teams can spend using their wind tunnels in a week. Time allotment works on a sliding scale: The constructor in last place gets the most time, while the first-place team gets the least.

“It’s sort of like how in the NFL the worst team gets the best draft pick,” Brown said. “The wind tunnel is used as a bit of a balancing act for team performance because it is just that critical.”

The present and the future

Each team walks a fine line between using the wind tunnel to further develop its current car and using it to develop the next season’s car. Fallows said this would be particularly important for the 2026 season, when new rules and regulations will require substantial changes to car design.

“It’s very tricky to allocate the time because we have a finite amount of resources,” Fallows said. “But no doubt, for 2026, people will be starting their development an awful lot earlier. We’re actually not allowed to start research on that until January 1, 2025 — but I guarantee every team will be doing that on the first day of the new year.”

Though wind-tunnel testing is largely a long-term development tool, Fallows said it could have short-term effects. He and his engineers at the technology center in England talk with the team at the track each Grand Prix weekend and often make adjustments in real time.

“When it gets really exciting is when you have something that happens on a race weekend, maybe during a Friday practice, and you get feedback from the drivers or engineers,” he said. “You go into the wind tunnel, identify the problem, fix it, and get the solution on the car before it even goes to qualifying. That happens more often than you think.”

As with most things in Formula 1, teams are secretive about the specifics of their wind tunnels. For example, Fallows confidently says the wind tunnel in the new Aston Martin technology center will be the most advanced in Formula 1 — but can he divulge why?

“Um, not really!” he said with a laugh. “Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a closely guarded secret, but we’ve upgraded some of the things that other teams have. By the time it comes online, it’ll be the best wind tunnel in a number of areas — and that should give us an edge.”