Red Bull capable of coping with wind tunnel restrictions, asserts team boss Christian Horner

Red Bull boss Christian Horner feels his team is capable enough of coping with the reduced wind tunnel time in 2023. Red Bull were found guilty of breaching the cost cap in the 2021 season due to which the team were docked 10% of its development time this season.

To exacerbate matters, the team was already supposed to have a reduced development time, as they won the title in 2022. Originally, the Austrian team were supposed to have a development time of 70% of the threshold, while their competitors Ferrari and Mercedes were supposed to have 75% and 80% respectively (on the basis of their finish in the championship).

However, with a further 10% penalty, Red Bull will only have around 63% of the threshold time available, which is a massive drop.

Speaking to GPFans, Christian Horner said that the drop could have a serious impact, but the team will be ready to take on the challenge. He said:

“Of course, it will have an effect. It is constricting your development tools. It just means we will have to think smarter and be more selective in what we test and run, but we just need to adapt."

"What we have lost in wind tunnel time, we have gained in motivation, and I think that we have just got to get on with it, get our heads down and do the very best job that we can."

He added:

“You can’t be greedy. Every single run counts and it has even more of a factor when you think we have potentially 20 per cent less than Mercedes, for example, in wind tunnel time. That is a significant amount, but if any team can cope with it, we can.”

The Bulls won the constructor and driver titles last season.

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Can Red Bull compete for title next season?

The competitiveness of the Austrian team will be one of the biggest questions heading into the new season. Both Ferrari and Mercedes had a somewhat compromised package in hand in 2022. Ferrari's primary struggles were with the power unit reliability, while Mercedes' struggles were with the design.

The scope of improvement for both teams is quite appreciable. Comparing that to Red Bull, the situation is different. The Austrian team's scope of improvement is comparatively smaller than what their main competitors have, after the Milton Keynes squad had already cracked the code with the new regulations.

To make things even more challenging, the 10% drop in development time further paralyzes the team. Hence, if we look at these handicaps, it does make it interesting to see whether Red Bull can fight for the title in 2023.