Ferrari reject 'big money' McLaren performance theory

Ferrari does not believe that McLaren's strong pace in F1 is solely down to its all-new F1 wind-tunnel. 

The MCL38 machine has morphed into the quickest car in grand prix racing, with McLaren enjoying a faultless track record with upgrades ever since it introduced a package at the 2023 Austrian GP that has transformed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from also-rans to regular race winners.

The Woking team is currently 41 points ahead of Red Bull in the F1 constructors' standings and is on course for a first title since Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard in 1998. 

One tool in the McLaren armoury has been a new wind-tunnel at its McLaren Technology Centre, which gutted the old tunnel and replaced it with state-of-the-art new equipment and has come on stream.

Aston Martin has built a brand-new tunnel from scratch, with Red Bull also looking to upgrade its Cold War-era facility.

Ferrari has not upgraded its wind-tunnel, but performance engineer Jock Clear does not believe the new wind-tunnel at McLaren is the sole reason behind the pace of the car compared to its rivals.

"I honestly don't know the answer to that, but I generally have a reasonably good big picture of what is going on, just because of my experience," Clear told media including RacingNews365 when asked if McLaren's new wind-tunnel was allowing them to streak ahead.

"That is a big, big picture, like looking at the fidelity of our wind-tunnel and how old the belts and mechanisms are and is that having an impact?

"Honestly, I have no idea and wouldn't like to say that that is where McLaren's performance is coming from, they've just done a good job this season.

"But actually, we've closed the gap to a large extent, there are still circuits which suit them, but certainly, you've seen over the past couple of races, we've closed the gap again.

"It is just the push and pull of everyone's development, and if we see over a period of time there seems to be something coming back to our processes and with what we're doing we just don't seem able to keep up, then that is a bigger picture decision Fred [Vasseur, team principal] has to make, with some big money behind it."