Is it bad news for Red Bull? ‘The construction of a new wind tunnel has been postponed.’
The development of Red Bull Racing’s new wind tunnel may have been hampered. The team appears to have changed their plans and withdrawn their application for the new facility.
Red Bull suffers a setback?
On X, F1 journalist Sam Collins reports on this. Since team leader Christian Horner stated in late 2022 that it was investing in a new facility, Red Bull has been in the process of developing a new wind tunnel. Horner would not reveal any details regarding the construction or planning, but he did indicate it was a last request from late Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
Collins writes about Red Bull’s failure at X. “The team has withdrawn its planning application for the new facility,” according to the statement. That means no construction will begin anytime soon.” According to the accompanying paper, Red Bull has withdrawn its request. The project called for the destruction of a warehouse to make way for the motorsport test center, as well as a car park and other structures.
The wind tunnel and Red Bull
The reason for the application’s abrupt withdrawal is unknown. The team may need to find a new location to build or make significant revisions to its plans. In any case, the new wind tunnel is unlikely to be ready in time to aid in the development of the 2025 automobile. The fact that the new facility will be operational in 2025 becomes significant, given Ford’s entry as Red Bull’s partner in 2026 and the stringent regulation modifications anticipated for F1.
The existing Red Bull wind tunnel is quite old. Since taking over the facility from Jaguar in 2004, the team has made no investments in it. Horner himself refers to the wind tunnel as a Cold War relic. RAE Bedford commissioned the modern wind tunnel in 1946. It functioned as an aircraft design facility.
