Full Throttle

According to BMW’s motorsport director, Mario Thiessen, aerodynamics is his top priority as he integrates the BMW operation with its newly-acquired Formula 1 team, Sauber.

Thiessen plans to add 100 people to Saubers existing staff of 300, for the sole purpose of expanding wind tunnel operations to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This will bring the total BMW-Sauber F1 staff to 700.

The Sauber wind tunnel is one of the best in F1, capable of testing full-scale cars on a rolling road at speeds up to 300 kph.

Meanwhile, Toyota F1 announced today that it is planning to add a second wind tunnel to its German facility, at a cost of $80 million.

And while on the subject of millions spent in the study of air flow over a multimillion dollar hunk of carbon fiber. Ross Brawn of Ferrari lays some of the blame of this years poor performance on the very same air flow. ”The aerodynamic performance … is not what we expected,” he told Autosport.

Unlike its dominant predecessors, F2005 was principally penned not by Rory Byrne, but new boy Aldo Costa.

Source: Autoblog.

Formula One, BMW, Sauber, Auto Racing