Red Bull update on new wind tunnel construction: ‘ahead of schedule’
F1 News
As Red Bull began to struggle in the latter half of the 2024 Formula One season, the team's suspicions turned to their outdated wind tunnel that may have been hindering their performance. The Austrian team have recently shared an update on the building of their new wind tunnel.
Red Bull have provided an update on the construction of their new wind tunnel and have shared the good progress that is being made. The team's Technical Director Peter Wache told Motorsport.com, "With the building work and afterwards all the new machines you never know when it's coming, but we are ahead of the schedule at the moment. We are three months ahead of the plans."
"The guys are doing a very good job, but you never know if you get any delays somewhere else. It is a big project.”
Speaking about when the team can benefit from the new wind tunnel, Wache shared that it will be used towards the end of 2026 and in 2027. "Or maybe already help us later in the year [2026]," added Wache.
Previous wind tunnel desperately needed updates
The wind tunnel's age has been discussed by the team as they struggled during the latter half of the 2024 season with Wache highlighting the age of the tunnel in conversation with Jos Verstappen, "It is the oldest wind tunnel in the sport. I even discussed it with Jos [Verstappen] the other day, that they already used this tunnel when he was there at Arrows."
Red Bull's issues with their wind tunnel and the mismatch between on track and wind tunnel data has been widely discussed in the 2024 season, with this updated wind tunnel looking to solve this.
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