Aston Martin Performance Director Tom McCullough admits that the squad are trying to use their increased wind tunnel time over Red Bull to their advantage as much as possible. F1 operates a sliding scale for aerodynamic testing, meaning that the teams who finish near the bottom of the Constructors' Championship are granted more wind tunnel time than those at the top for the following season. With Aston Martin having finished the 2022 campaign in P7, this means that the outfit have a greater wind tunnel allowance than that of Red Bull, who won both titles in the previous year. Alongside this, Red Bull were handed a 10 percent deduction in aerodynamic and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) allowances – as well as a $7 million fine – for breaching the 2021 budget cap, and team boss Christian Horner admits that this could make it challenging for the Milton Keynes-based team to maintain their edge over 2023.
Aston Martin on their 'advantage'
When asked if having an increased amount of wind tunnel time will be an advantage for Aston Martin, McCullough told media, including RacingNews365.com : "It's definitely an advantage, so we're trying to use that as much as we can do at the moment. "For sure, the more time you've got, the more tests you can do, the more data you can analyse, so it's good to have more time." Aston Martin have proved to be Red Bull's closest competitors so far in 2023, but the team still have a 58-point deficit to their rivals in the Constructors' standings. When asked if the Monaco Grand Prix – which takes place later in May – could offer a particular opportunity for the team to challenge Red Bull, McCullough explained: "Again, I think Red Bull will turn up with a max downforce rear wing. "We'll get to see how that performs where efficiency is critical. Monaco is obviously dominated a lot by low-speed car performance. "At the moment, we make ourselves look a little bit better relative to some people, because of the size of the wing we carry. When everyone's on the max wing, maybe that will even out a bit, but we're still learning, to be honest. "At the same time, nobody's standing still, so we're hopefully going to be bringing some developments going forwards, as everybody's going to be doing, and the picture will rattle out."
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