Horner reveals 60-year-old Red Bull ‘limitation’

Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull has always known that its wind tunnel has "limitations", with it being a "relic of the Cold War".

The Milton Keynes-based outfit is in the process of solving multiple issues with the RB20, which has seen the team's performance drop.

As a result, it finds itself 41 points behind McLaren in the F1 constructors' championship. What has been discovered by Red Bull, is problems with wind tunnel correlation.

“We've always known the limitations of the tunnel,” Horner said, as per motorsport.com. 

“But I think as we've really started to push the aerodynamics of these cars now and you're into really fine margins, then the limitations show themselves up.”

Red Bull has used the same wind tunnel facility in Bedford since it debuted in F1 back in 2005; however, a new state-of-the-art one is being built at its Milton Keynes base. 

Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be in operation before 2026 and the introduction of the new power unit regulations.

A new wind tunnel being built is a step in the right direction though, as the decision to go ahead had been put on hold by Red Bull and Adrian Newey.

“There was a point in time that wind tunnels could have been banned,” Horner added. “There was a discussion about whether that was going to be the case, and whether CFD would overtake it or not.

“Adrian [Newey] held off pushing for a new tunnel until there was clarity on that. But it got to a point where Aston Martin wanted a new tunnel and the FIA changed their stance.

“So it was a question of: ‘Look, we have to do this, and we have to do this now, because the regulations dictate that, within a cost cap, the tunnel that we're running is grossly inefficient.'”

Red Bull wind tunnel 'unstable'

A key reason for Red Bull's issues with its wind tunnel is the sheer age of it, dating back to the Cold War. 

As revealed by Horner, it has become very difficult to control, due to the sensitivity of it. 

Excellent cars have still been produced by using it, although Red Bull needs to improve its technology to avoid being left behind. 

“We've got a facility that is a 60-year-old wind tunnel. It is a relic of the Cold War," revealed Horner.

“It's been good enough to produce some fantastic cars for us over the years. But it has its limitations.

“So anything under five degrees [centigrade], we can't run it. Anything over 25 degrees, it becomes pretty unstable.”