Ferrari says extra wind tunnel time worth less than 0.1s

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says the additional wind tunnel development time it received for this year has led to a marginal gain of less than 0.1s for its 2021 car.

Current regulations restrict a team's basic wind tunnel allocation to 40 runs, compared to 65 in pervious years. However, the quota is reduced or boosted according to a team's classification in the pervious year's Constructors' standings.

For instance, reigning world champions Mercedes' allocation was reduced by 90% - or 36 runs. But Ferrari's mediocre 2021 campaign in which it finished P6 in the Constructors' championship led to a 102.5% increase in wind tunnel time.

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However, the bonus is only worth an extra run of development time in Maranello's wind tunnel.

"Obviously for the position we finished last year we've got some more time at the wind tunnel," said Binotto. "The extra time we've got is corresponding to what we call sessions of the wind tunnel in the entire season, so it's an extra session.

"And normally an extra session is a week of development, and normally a week of development is less than 0.1 seconds per lap. So yes, it is certainly an advantage, but it's less than 0.1 seconds per lap."

Although the benefit seems insignificant, Binotto says that he is still happy to have it.

"It's still important, I'm still happy to have it, not because of the result of last year but because at least it's something we've got in 2021," he said.

"But we don't believe that that's a game-changer. It is not," he added.

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