Team New Zealand designer Dan Bernasconi believes the specialised nature of the America’s Cup will limit the impact Formula 1 teams will have on next year’s regatta in Barcelona.
Both Alinghi and Ineos Britannia have confirmed they are working with Formula 1 teams, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes-AMG respectively, intheir bid to gain ground on the defender.
Much like in the America’s Cup, the package Formula 1 drivers are provided by their teams to compete in goes a long way in determining the outcome. That has been glaringly evident through three rounds of the new F1 season, with Red Bull dominating the rest of the grid.
“There’s a huge amount of talent in Formula 1, but I think mostly it’s so specialised, as it is in our world of the America’s Cup,” Bernasconi said.
“If a Formula 1 team came into Team New Zealand, for sure there would be some really smart people, but it would take them a long time to learn about the specifics of what makes an America’s Cup boat fast and the very specific types of analysis we do.”
Team New Zealand design guru Dan Bernasconi. Photo / Photosport
When the partnership between Ineos Britannia and Mercedes-AMG was announced, Ineos Britannia technical director Geoffrey Willis said there were clear similarities between Formula 1 and the America’s Cup in the mindset and organisation needed to succeed.
Ineos Britannia made a conscious decision to have people with Cup experience leading the team around hull and foil design while making the most of engineering, simulation, aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, materials and design resources available through the Formula 1 team.
While Bernasconi agreed there were definitely areas in which the minds behind Formula 1 teams would be beneficial, it would be unlikely that those benefits would hugely change how the team performs on the water in Barcelona.
“I don’t think it’s like from day one they’re suddenly going to make leaps and bounds of progress,” he said.
“I think there are some areas where it will be valuable and maybe they’ve got a little bit more relevance like hydraulic control system design, there are lots of pretty hi-tech hydraulics on Formula 1 cars and in gearboxes and engines, so that is potentially an advantage.
“But on the other hand, you’ve got two organisations coming together, potentially a bit of a culture clash with everyone trying to find their positions on a new combined team.”
Bernasconi himself spent six years working in Formula 1 with McLaren as a vehicle dynamics engineer and led their vehicle modelling team through a period during which McLaren won a constructors’ championship and saw Mika Hakkinen claim two drivers’ championships with the team.
He entered the America’s Cup arena in 2006 as a performance analyst for Team Germany’s challenge in the 32nd edition of the event, before joining Alinghi later in 2007 as a performance prediction and hydrodynamics engineer.
He joined Team New Zealand in 2010 and has played an important role in the last three campaigns. He is again leading an established design team toward the 2024 regatta and said those established relationships made a big difference in the team’s productivity.
“It’s a really mature team, everyone knows exactly what they need to do in the team and we work well together and have a great culture here,” he said.
“I think it’s pretty high risk joining up with another team; it takes a long time to work through that stretch and find a place for everyone and how everyone’s going to work together.”
