Allison explains challenges of limited time in the wind tunnel

Starting in 2021, the reform package Liberty Media has in mind is slowly taking shape. One of those interventions concerns the so-called 'aero handicap' (ATR). Especially for the top teams, it seems that they will have to be even more creative when developing the F1 car.

With the introduction of the ATR, Liberty Media hopes to bring the teams closer together. In practice, for Mercedes, for example, it means that they are allowed to spend twenty percent less time in the wind tunnel and on CFD simulations than Williams. This arrangement is determined based on last year's performance.

James Allison, the technical director of the German brand, accepted that it has been a challenge to recover as much performance as possible. Speaking to Motorsport.com he said: "It's been our challenge over the weeks since those rules, the weeks, and months those rules were set in stone to try to recover as much of the performance as possible. That has been quite an entertaining ride in the wind tunnel and in CFD to try and make sure that we get that performance as far as possible back onto the car."