Formula 1 Racing

Why Red Bull remains sceptical about its F1 development tools

Why Red Bull remains sceptical about its F1 development tools

Between the ever finer margins separating the Formula 1 grid and relying on an older windtunnel, Red Bull knows it is not out of the woods yet as it tackles its development issues.

To some degree Red Bull’s car balance problems that helped derail its 2024 constructors’ title bid coincided with correlation issues, with the team struggling to get the real world results to match up with the data it was receiving from its wind tunnel, simulator and computer models.

Those balance issues particularly started to hurt Red Bull from May’s Miami round onwards, when its biggest rival McLaren introduced a huge upgrade to start punishing the Milton Keynes team’s relative weaknesses. It wasn’t until Red Bull’s set-up experiments at the Italian Grand Prix in September that the team finally started finding some more definitive clues about what was happening and how to fix it, introducing some much needed upgrades in Austin which helped the RB20 feel more connected for both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Its downturn showed Red Bull that it couldn’t fully rely on its development tools, which includes an old wind tunnel that is due to be replaced by a brand-new one currently being built.

“When you have a correlation issue, then for sure you are a little bit lost,” Wache told Autosport. “You cannot trust your tools any more. And when you cannot trust your tools any more, then you have to find a way to modify your tools to find that correlation again. Then you are lost in terms of having doubts about everything you are doing. It is not being lost, but you have doubts about the results that your tools give you.”

According to Wache those correlation issues will ‘never be fully fixed’ as it’s impossible to get a 100 percent match between the real and the virtual world. But what is making things more complicated for teams over the past 12 months is that the current regulations cycle is heading into its final season and the margins for improvement are getting ever smaller, requiring a higher degree of precision in the factory. Substantial correlation issues can therefore have a bigger impact as teams chase those final tenths.

“When you have the same type of regulations for a certain period of time, then the gains you have start to be very minor and the accuracy requirements are even higher,” Wache said. “You are looking for small things. On the aero side, and it’s the same on the suspension side, you are looking for two or three downforce…

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