 and then take to the wind tunnel for further optimisation as well as how many "runs" they have in the tunnel. Although the use of wind tunnels and CFD in Formula One is nothing new, they have become increasingly important since the enormous reduction in on-track testing over the last two decades. The wind tunnel is the closest thing you have to simulate the track to try and make sure your aerodynamic developments go in the right direction. The more time you have, the more you can evaluate and, ultimately, make the car quicker. Aerodynamic research starts with a team going through various ideas for a part, say a front wing, using CFD to try to understand how it will function. You might create 10 iterations in CFD before 'cutting any metal' as it were, and then pick and create the best two versions at 60 per cent scale to take to the wind tunnel. If time was unlimited you would probably make those 10 different iterations of certain components – front wing end-plates with different turns and twists for instance – and evaluate all of them and try to get the right direction from it. But time is limited, even if your wind tunnel time is not restricted. For winning the constructors' championship this year, Red Bull will already be penalised. A sliding scale currently exists to help the worse performing teams and restrict the better ones. Each team gets a percentage of the theoretical average){kind=link}
Team handed £6m fine and came to an ‘accepted breach agreement’ with F1’s governing body FIA
Red Bull’s breach of the 2021 budget cap has landed them a £6 million fine and a 10 per cent reduction in their aerodynamic development time for next year.
Christian Horner and his team were clearly unhappy, describing the latter of those two sanctions as “draconian”.
We can dig a little deeper into what this penalty actually means, though, and surmise how much it will hurt Red Bull and also how they can mitigate its effects.
Ultimately, the aero development penalty limits how many parts Red Bull can create using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and then take to the wind tunnel for further optimisation as well as how many “runs” they have in the tunnel. Although the use of wind tunnels and CFD in Formula One is nothing new, they have become increasingly important since the enormous reduction in on-track testing over the last two decades.