Red Bull set to replace 'Cold War relic' F1 wind-tunnel

Christian Horner has confirmed that work will get underway in 2024 on a brand-new wind-tunnel for Red Bull to replace its "Cold War relic."

Red Bull currently make use of a facility in Bedford, near to its Milton Keynes base which was previously an aircraft research site between 1946 and 1994.

However, the old facility is lacking in comparison to other state-of-the-art wind-tunnels, with the team set to invest in an all-new facility, with Horner believing it won't be until 2027 that the first Red Bull will be designed there.

"A relic of the Cold War"

"A quirk of the regulations with wind-tunnels being a thing of the future by all accounts, we’ve had to go with the times and invest in a new wind tunnel," Horner explained as quoted by Racer.

"Construction will start during the course of 2024, you don’t want to introduce it in-season, you have to nominate a tunnel for the year, so it will be probably to do the 2027 car in.

"With the wind tunnel that we have, which is a Cold War relic, and not particularly efficient, particularly in cold weather – which you tend to get a bit of in the UK – we have to be very, very selective [with what we run].

"That’s where the team have done brilliantly well of really being selective of where we channel our development."