(Motorsport-Total.com) – Red Bull expects to commission the long-awaited new Formula 1 wind tunnel at the beginning of 2027. At the same time, technical director Pierre Wache recognizes initial improvements in the correlation between simulation data and the car’s behavior on the track following recent updates to the RB22.
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The new wind tunnel is currently being built on the Red Bull campus in Milton Keynes and is considered internally one of the most important future projects of the Formula 1 team.
However, Red Bull still has to work with its existing aging facility, a wind tunnel that former team principal Christian Horner has repeatedly described in the past as a “relic from the Cold War.” Wache also speaks of clear limitations due to the current infrastructure.
Wache: “We still have the same problems”
Despite positive trends thanks to the Miami upgrade, the technical director explains: “Yes, it is moving in the right direction, but we still have the same tool and the same problems. We are limited by it. Well, we try to make the best of what we have, and the rest we will see.”
In an interview with Motorsport.com, a partner site of Motorsport-Total.com, the Frenchman makes it clear that Red Bull has high hopes for the new facility.
“We will soon get a new tool and I hope it will take us another step forward,” said Wache. Last year he had stated that construction was three months ahead of schedule. However, he now clarifies that the facility will probably not be usable in 2026.
“We hope it will be operational at the beginning of next year.” This means the new Red Bull wind tunnel will likely be ready for use at the earliest in early 2027.
Old wind tunnel has been a problem for years
The previous wind tunnel near Bedford is about 70 years old and has long been considered a weak point. Horner once compared working with it to looking at “two different clocks” because the data from the wind tunnel often did not match the actual behavior of the car on the track.
The issue of correlation came back into focus in 2026. Red Bull brought its first major update of the season to the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. However, Max Verstappen said there that he “couldn’t really feel the difference.”
Only the more extensive package in Miami delivered the hoped-for results according to the team. The new components behaved exactly as the simulations had predicted.
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Difficult start to the season despite strong power unit
The first races of the 2026 season were overall difficult for Red Bull. While the new power unit is considered surprisingly competitive by several rivals in the paddock, the chassis of the RB22 revealed significant deficits in the first three race weekends.
Photos: F1: Miami Grand Prix (USA) 2026
The successful Miami upgrade included, among other things, Red Bull’s own version of the so-called “Macarena” wing as well as heavily revised sidepods.
Wache explains: “These sidepods had been in the pipeline since the Bahrain tests. The original package for the Bahrain Grand Prix was more or less what we introduced in Japan.” This also confirms that Red Bull brought forward its first major updates after the races in the Middle East were canceled in April.
Further updates already planned
After the big development step in Miami, the next upgrade is expected at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Wache spoke of a “small step.”
At the start of the European season, Red Bull then plans another major update. The team hopes, among other things, to finally reach the minimum weight of the RB22 by the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June at the latest.
Modern wind tunnels are becoming increasingly important
The enormous importance of modern wind tunnels is now evident at several teams in Formula 1. After 2010, McLaren used Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne for years but has been working with its own facility again since summer 2023. The team’s sporting upswing is often linked to this.
Aston Martin also now has a new wind tunnel at its Silverstone site. Adrian Newey recently called the facility the best in all of Formula 1. However, the advantages have not yet been fully translated into results because other factors limit performance.
Until the new wind tunnel in Milton Keynes is completed, Red Bull will continue to rely on the old facility, both for the further development of the current RB22 and for the initial development work on the car for the 2027 season.
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