Red Bull to open new wind tunnel early 2027

Red Bull Racing expects its new wind tunnel to be operational in early 2027, technical director Pierre Wache said in comments published on May 21, as the Formula One team continues to work around the limits of its current facility. Wache said the team’s Miami upgrade package had shown more encouraging correlation between factory tools and track behavior, but he cautioned that Red Bull was still dealing with the same underlying constraints. The team is planning another, smaller update for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Wache made the remarks to Motorsport.com, which were then circulated on X. ### When will Red Bull’s new wind tunnel actually be ready? Pierre Wache said Red Bull hopes to have the new tunnel “running at the beginning of next year,” according to Motorsport.com’s May 21 report, which places the operational target in early 2027. The facility is being built at Red Bull’s Milton Keynes campus and is intended to replace the team’s long-used older tunnel near Bedford. (motorsport.com) Christian Horner had previously described Red Bull’s existing wind tunnel as a “Cold War relic,” and Wache said in January 2025 that the replacement project was running three months ahead of schedule. At that stage, he said the new tunnel might become operational in 2026 and could help with the 2027 car. The latest timeline pushes full running into early 2027. (motorsport.com) ### What did Wache say about the current tunnel’s limits? Wache said Red Bull was still constrained by its present development tools even after the Miami package behaved as expected. “Yes, it’s going in the right direction, but still we have the same tool and the same issues,” Motorsport.com quoted him as saying. He added that the team was trying to maximize what it has for the rest of the season. (motorsport.com) RacingNews365 reported in February that Wache had said Red Bull’s correlation problems were less likely to plague the team in 2026, even before the new tunnel arrived, because the squad better understood the limitations of its current setup. That report also said Red Bull’s existing facility is considerably older than those used by several rivals. (motorsport.com) ### Why did Miami matter so much to this update? The Miami Grand Prix package included revised sidepods and Red Bull’s version of the so-called “Macarena” wing, Motorsport.com reported. Wache said that package gave the team encouraging signs because the car’s behavior on track matched more closely with what the factory tools had predicted. (racingnews365.com) F1i reported this week that Wache viewed Montreal as another useful test of the RB22’s progress after Miami. That report said Red Bull saw the earlier package not as a complete fix, but as evidence that its current direction was producing more reliable feedback. ### What is Red Bull bringing to Montreal? (motorsport.com) Wache said Red Bull plans a “minor step” for the Canadian Grand Prix rather than another major overhaul. Motorsport.com reported that the Montreal parts are intended to build on the direction established in Miami while the team continues development with its existing tunnel. (f1i.com) The Canadian Grand Prix sprint weekend is underway in Montreal on May 22, with sprint qualifying scheduled for Friday and the main race set for Sunday, according to session guides cited in the briefing packet. Red Bull’s next public test of the Miami-Montreal development path will come there, before the team’s longer-term infrastructure change arrives in early 2027. (motorsport.com)