Williams has joined Mercedes in hitting out at a proposal to ban wind tunnels in formula one.
The proposal, admittedly “extreme” and “controversial” in the words of boss Christian Horner, has come from the Red Bull camp. He says the sport’s enormous costs need to be cut, but it should also be remembered that Red Bull is trying to rekindle the interest of its now part-time designer Adrian Newey, arguably the most intuitive aerodynamicist in F1 history.
Dominant Mercedes, who kicked off their campaign with a one-second advantage over the rest of the field in first Melbourne practice, slammed the idea. “This is formula one,” said boss Toto Wolff, “not GP2 or a single car series like Indycar.” But now, even Red Bull’s cost-cutting argument has taken a knock as Williams – the giant-killing British team on a mid-grid budget – also rejected the proposal. “We have invested heavily in wind tunnels,” deputy boss Claire Williams is quoted by Italy’s Autosprint. “We have two and the second one cost us millions. We will not support a ban,” she insisted.
