Max Verstappen has responded to Christian Horner’s suggestion that the outdated wind tunnel is the main culprit behind Red Bull’s problems. The Dutch driver points out that his team worked with the same wind tunnel during both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and was able to deliver a dominant car then.
The race weekend in Bahrain was anything but smooth for Red Bull. There were issues with the tires, grip, balance, brakes, and even the pit stop for the Austrians. Problems with balance and understeer persist during the first free practice of the GP Saudi Arabia. Team boss Christian Horner pointed to correlation problems between the data from the tools, including the outdated wind tunnel, and from the track as the main culprit after the GP Bahrain. However, Max Verstappen believes the problems are much more complex.
“Of course, we’re not entirely happy with the wind tunnel and we’re working on a new one,” the four-time world champion tells the media in Saudi Arabia. “It takes time, but we knew that already. It (problems due to the wind tunnel) is not something new this season. We saw in 2023 that we can’t detect some things in the wind tunnel.”
Same Wind Tunnel
Verstappen then points out that Red Bull also worked with the same wind tunnel during their dominant years – 2022 and 2023. “The team has experience with it, so they know in which direction to develop. The only problem is that they can’t perfect some details. But it worked in the end in 2022 and 2023, and in 2021 I also had a good car, when there was a different sports regulation. So I wouldn’t just blame the wind tunnel.”
