Red Bull Principal Christian Horner Addresses Technical Issues Affecting RB21 Performance

In a recent interview, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted that the team is grappling with technical issues stemming from a lack of correlation between wind tunnel and track data. Despite Max Verstappen’s triumphant win at the Japanese Grand Prix and his reign as Formula 1 world champion, the dominance Red Bull once enjoyed has waned throughout the past season and into the 2025 campaign.

The Root of the Problem: Discrepancies Between Wind Tunnel and On-Track Data

After a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend, Red Bull’s top brass held ‘crisis’ talks in an attempt to progress forward. Horner highlighted that the RB21 is suffering from “similar” technical issues that Verstappen grappled with to retain his title last year, while emphasizing the need for the team to get a handle on these discrepancies between wind tunnel and on-track outputs.

He explained, “Ultimately you can mask it a little through set-up and we were able to achieve that in Suzuka, but I think this race [in Bahrain] has exposed some pitfalls that obviously very clearly that we have that we need to get on top of very quickly.” Horner went on to say, “I think we understand where the issues are, it’s introducing the solutions that obviously take a little more time. I think the problems are understood, I think the problem is that the solutions with what we see within our tools compared to what we’re seeing on track at the moment aren’t correlating and I think that’s what we need to get to the bottom of, why can we not see within our tools what we’re seeing on the circuit?

When asked about the impact of these discrepancies, Horner stated, “When you end up with a disconnect like that, you have to obviously unpick it. We’ve got a strong technical team that have produced some amazing cars over the last few years and I’m confident that they’ll get to the bottom of this issue. But it’s literally the tool isn’t replicating with what we’re seeing on the track and then it’s at that point, it’s like telling the time on two different watches.

The Countdown to a Solution

With 2025 being the last year of the current regulations, there were no major overhauls of any cars over the winter. However, some teams – Haas and Mercedes – have made net gains, while Red Bull has struggled to correct the problems that plagued the back end of 2024.

Horner is hopeful that, with four races already ticked off, the increased amount of data supplied from Australia, China, Japan, and Bahrain can help find a solution. He stated, “I think it’s clear we understand what the problem is, it’s implementing the solution. It’s the entry phase into the mid-corner that needs addressing and giving him [Verstappen] the ability and grip and confidence that takes carry speed into entry of corners, now that’s fundamentally an aero issue that we need to be able to give him that grip.

He further added, “The problem that we have is that we’re at the end of a set of regulations where the gains are very, very marginal and I think we’re seeing some of the shortcomings in our current tunnel.” Red Bull will hope to benefit from a new wind tunnel facility, but not before the start of the new regulation cycle next year, even if plans are ahead of schedule on both of Horner’s watches.

The Race Against Time

We have a new tunnel coming online for ‘27 but we have the current tool certainly for another 18 months or so,” he added. “The new one is currently ahead of schedule but would be for implementation in 2027.” Horner acknowledged the urgency of the situation, stating, “It’s a 24-race championship, we’re eight points behind in the drivers’ championship and we know we need to make progress very quickly, so it was important to score points…it’s how they add up at the end of the year that’s important.