New handicap system gives teams a chance to catch up

From next year onwards, there will be a handicap system for aerodynamic development in Formula 1. This means that successful teams will have less time in the wind tunnel than less successful teams.

Catching up

The system ensures that teams that are lagging behind are given the opportunity to catch up. The best constructor in 2020 will only get 90% of the normal time in the wind tunnel in 2021, while the worst team will get 113%. The number of tests allowed in the wind tunnel ranges from 36 to 45 times a week. From 2022 onwards, these differences will become even greater.

James Key, technical director at McLaren, has not yet decided whether he thinks this is a good development. "With such a scenario you no longer have equal opportunities. Especially when you are developing a completely new car, it is quite unfair to impose such a handicap on teams that work well. After all, success should not be punished," says Key at Motorsport-Total.com.

Opportunities for teams

Key, however, also sees the advantages of such a system. "Some teams have to catch up, and that gives them half a chance of doing so. That is good. From a purely sporting point of view, it is not a bad thing.”

However, he also believes that the system should not always upset the ranking. "If it means that there is a different balance of power every year, then that would no longer be a valid point."

Prize money or development

For a team like McLaren that fights in the middle, the handicap system also works the other way around. A lower spot in the championship may mean more time in the wind tunnel for development, but it also means substantially less prize money.

“We want to finish every race and every championship as high up as possible. That is the main goal," Key states resolutely.

What's more, he says, it doesn't matter in the short term whether they become third or fifth in the championship. "What is crucial for us as a private team is that we make clear progress. We still have a long to-do list ahead of us until we are where we want to be. That's what we're concentrating on."