Ferrari had a major steel belt failure just before the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix. That was crucial as Ferrari doesn’t have a second in house wind tunnel with the same moving ground plane speed/ model size capability; that failure consequently cost it a couple of weeks of productive aerodynamic development time. At the Spanish race it introduced a revised aero package to overcome cooling difficulties; the revised package had to be further revised to get the car back onto the pace so the belt failure came at just the wrong time. It was not until the French Grand Prix, four races later that Ferrari was back up to speed. Such is the importance of wind tunnel facilities in today’s Grand Prix environment. All of the 11 teams, from pace setters Ferrari and McLaren through to little Super Aguri have aero departments, of varying size. Super Aguri like Toro Rosso currently takes chassis technology from another team but both have their own aero specialists and produce unique aero developments. In 2007 the tiny Super Aguri aero department led by Ben Wood was so successful that the little team not only on occasion humbled powertrain supplier Honda but in Canada its driver Sato dramatically demoted Alonso’s McLaren. A car doesn’t run that well without sound aerodynamics. 

Ref:  BMW Sauber Toro Rosso Force India Super Aguri Willy Rampf Sam Michael Mike Gascoyne Force India Giorgio Ascanelli Toro Rosso wind tunnel Hinwil Mario Theissen Adrian Newey Aerolab Patrick Vasselon Sant’ Agata Bolognese Dallara BTM Exa Corporation CD Adapco Ansys/Fluent