Formula 1: Red Bull blame wind tunnel issues for ongoing performance struggles with RB21

New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) Red Bull Racing have admitted that persistent technical issues - particularly with their wind tunnel correlation - are behind the performance dip that has troubled the team since late 2024.

Team principal Christian Horner has confirmed that mismatches between simulation tools and actual track data have led to a fundamental disconnect in car development, which is impacting both Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda's ability to extract maximum performance from the RB21.

Despite Verstappen being just eight points behind current championship leader Lando Norris, the reigning champion has struggled with a car that lacks consistency and reliability in key areas. In Bahrain, Verstappen finished sixth - a massive 34 seconds behind race-winner Oscar Piastri, even with a late safety car that bunched up the field.

Horner has outlined the core issue: the team’s wind tunnel - a crucial tool in F1 development - is not accurately replicating what happens on track. "I think the problems are understood. 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," Red Bull team principal Horner was quoted by Sky Sports as saying.

"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 you end up with a disconnect like that, you have to obviously unpick it."

Red Bull had dominated the early stages of the 2024 season but have since suffered a noticeable decline, winning just two races in the second half of last year. Their 2025 campaign has continued on a rocky path, with only Verstappen’s brilliance in Suzuka salvaging a win from a clearly inferior package.

Horner also admitted that Red Bull are stuck with the current wind tunnel until 2027, with their new facility still two years away. In the meantime, their engineers are forced to navigate through what he described as a “mishmash” of inconsistent data. With car performance stagnating, Red Bull’s poor tyre management and limited corner entry grip have become glaring weaknesses - especially in comparison to McLaren and Mercedes.

"Then you end up with a mishmash between what your tools are telling you and what the track data is," he added.

"I think you've got to understand where its weakness is. The problem that we have is that we're at the end of a set of regulations where the gains are very, very marginal. We're seeing some of the shortcomings in our current tunnel that struggles in that area."

Both Verstappen and Tsunoda have struggled to push the car to its limit without overheating the tyres or encountering balance shifts mid-corner. Tsunoda, who has outperformed expectations early in 2025, noted after Japan that the RB21 “felt different” from the simulator - underlining the feedback gap Red Bull now faces.

Complicating matters further, Verstappen’s long-term contract includes performance-related exit clauses, and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has voiced “great concern” over the Dutchman’s future with the team. With Ferrari and Mercedes reportedly monitoring the situation closely, Red Bull’s inability to quickly implement fixes could open the door for a seismic shift in the driver market.

Horner remains optimistic that they can work through the issues, stating: "I think it's clear we understand what the problem is. It's implementing the solution," said Horner.

"So it's the entry phase to the mid-corner that he [Verstappen] is addressing and giving him the ability and grip and confidence that takes to carry speed into the entry of the corners. Now that's fundamentally an aero issue that we need to be able to give him that grip.

"We need to just unpick it and you get a big balance shift. How these cars are working with the back or front wings and so on. It's unpicking all of that and basically calming the car down."

--IANS

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