APRIL 1, 1996

F1's building boom

THE Formula 1 teams are constantly expanding their facilities and, at the moment, there seems to be more expansion than ever before.

THE Formula 1 teams are constantly expanding their facilities and, at the moment, there seems to be more expansion than ever before. This has led to some difficulties with local planning authorities.

McLaren, for example, is currently struggling to get planning permission to build its vast new factory in what is supposed to be protected countryside outside Woking. The planning application has been referred to the British government for review.

Benetton is also having difficulty convincing its local council in Gloucestershire to allow it to build a half-scale rolling road windtunnel at Enstone.

Williams is still settling into its vast new base at Grove in Oxfordshire, England, where a new building is currently going up to house the team's windtunnel which will be moved from Didcot to Grove at the end this month. This operation will involve the cutting of the tunnel into three parts and the closure of several main roads for one night while the three sections are transported across country.

Ferrari is also about to embark on the construction of 50% rolling-road tunnel at Maranello - which will give the team access to two such facilities (one in England and the other at Maranello) by the end of the year - if all goes to plan.

Sauber is also joining the ranks of 50% rolling road teams with the conversion currently going on at the Swiss Aerospace windtunnel at Emmen.