McLaren balks at wind tunnel rules and budget cap towards 2022 car

McLaren performed well last year and are heading for another strong season this year. The third place also has consequences for the team, because the budget cap and the rules about time in the wind tunnels have been changed. This is not to the advantage of McLaren.

Speaking to Motorsport-total.com, technical director James Key says that third place causes problems with the budget cap and ensures that McLaren have less time in the wind tunnel in 2022, and less than competitors like Ferrari and Aston Martin.

"Third place last year had some drawbacks in that respect, because it kind of hampered what you could do this year for the new regulations. And that's the same for next season. It's a bit unfortunate that the restrictions come at a time when you need to develop two cars in parallel and there's a lot of focus on 2022 and a fresh start. That sets us back a bit, but you have to adapt to it."

McLaren were already not fans of the rule changes

It's easy to talk about in hindsight of course, but according to Key they were actually not a fan of the new rules, yet they also saw the logic of them. "We were never really keen on this idea when it was first introduced some time ago. But we also saw a point in it, because at the time there was a huge difference between first and tenth place, and the ability to catch up within a cost cap and a tighter testing limit makes sense anyway."

Either way, McLaren will have a little less time in the wind tunnel heading into the new 2022 rules, and they'll also have to factor in the budget cap again in a big way.