F1 News: Red Bull Faces Huge Setbacks In Infrastructure Development
Red Bull Racing was all set to begin working on a brand new motorsport facility that was also to include a new wind tunnel. But for some unknown reason, the team withdrew its planning application for the new facility.
Just like how McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin made major investments in their headquarters infrastructure over the years, Red Bull was in the process of not being left behind in the development race.
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The Milton Keynes outfit was to spend around 50m to 75m Euros on its new wind tunnel facility with the hopes of testing its 2024 F1 car. But, as per broadcaster and UK councillor Sam Collins, certain documents reveal that Red Bull has paused the development of the new wind tunnel for now.
Collins reported the setback for Red Bull on X stating:
“Red Bull wind tunnel set back.
"Things are not going to plan for Red Bull’s new wind tunnel in Milton Keynes, UK. The team has withdrawn its planning application for the new facility. Which means there is no chance of construction starting soon.
"It also means that any new wind tunnel for the team would not be much use on the 2025 car, and would be a push to realistically have it in use for much meaningful development on the Ford-powered 2026 car.
"The team will continue with its 75-year-old tunnel at Twinwoods, UK for now.
"The reasons for withdrawal have not been revealed yet, but it may be that the team will have to find a new location for the tunnel, or significantly modify the plans.”
However, there is one important person at Red Bull who might be happy with the withdrawal of the wind tunnel plans - chief technical officer Adrian Newey, who was against the idea of building a new wind tunnel from scratch. He said back in 2022 when the new wind tunnel plans took off:
“It just takes too long for us to ramp up to the desired wind speed. And that steals significantly relevant wind tunnel time that we’re actually entitled to.
"I would keep everything full CFD [Computational Fluid Dynamics] development. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough votes for that, although it would be much more sustainable. The usual suspects are against it.”
However, Red Bull is still marching ahead with its plans for a new power unit operations building. Collins concluded:
“Its new Power Units building is progressing through the planning process as normal, it still does not have planning permission but there don’t seem to be many significant objections to it.”