Christian Horner says FIA considered banning F1 testing method before Aston Martin ‘changed their stance’

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Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner faces a very difficult final six races of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Christian Horner made it clear before this year’s campaign started that he expected Red Bull’s dominance from last year to be impossible to replicate given the convergence of the grid.

However, he probably didn’t expect McLaren to surge past them in terms of their car’s performance and Ferrari and Mercedes to be capable of matching them on any given weekend.

Max Verstappen has had to use every ounce of his talent to maintain a 52-point advantage over Lando Norris this season, although he’s seen that lead slowly ebb away.

Sergio Perez has once again struggled although Red Bull engineers have apologised to Perez for not listening to him sooner about the issues he was complaining about.

Red Bull’s car has changed significantly since last year despite how far ahead of the rest of the field the RB19 was.

However, the fundamental issues that Perez raised also existed in that car, but have become more pronounced as Red Bull tried to add more downforce to the car.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

In an interview with Autosport, Horner explained why that potentially has been the case and why the team haven’t taken steps to fix the problem.

One of the main concerns Red Bull have had this season is with their wind tunnel and the lack of correlation between their data and what’s happening on the track.

Horner has suggested that Red Bull never thought to upgrade their wind tunnel as the FIA were thinking about banning them until Aston Martin made their intentions clear about building a new state-of-the-art facility.

Christian Horner cites Aston Martin influence in the FIA not banning wind tunnels

Talking about the development of Red Bull’s facilities, Horner said: “There was a point in time that wind tunnels could have been banned.

“There was a discussion about whether that was going to be the case, and whether CFD would overtake it or not.

“Adrian [Newey] held off pushing for a new tunnel until there was clarity on that. But it got to a point where Aston Martin wanted a new tunnel and the FIA changed their stance.

“So it was a question of: ‘Look, we have to do this, and we have to do this now, because the regulations dictate that, within a cost cap, the tunnel that we’re running is grossly inefficient.’”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Horner was then asked about the difficulties Red Bull are dealing with using their current wind tunnel and continued: “We’ve got a facility that is a 60-year-old wind tunnel. It is a relic of the Cold War.

“It’s been good enough to produce some fantastic cars for us over the years. But it has its limitations.

“So anything under five degrees [centigrade], we can’t run it. Anything over 25 degrees, it becomes pretty unstable.”

Aston Martin predicted to poach key Red Bull asset after Adrian Newey signing

After Newey delayed pushing for a new wind tunnel at Red Bull, he’s going to have the opportunity to use Aston Martin’s factory from March next year.

Newey will likely be excited about working with one genius at Aston Martin, but another has been predicted to join him sooner rather than later.

Verstappen has been predicted to replace Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, which seems far-fetched but stranger things have happened in F1.

If Red Bull can’t sustain a title challenge next year or when the regulations change in 2026, then Verstappen may have to consider his options.

Aston Martin will hope that their new team of star backroom staff and best-in-field factory can attract the triple world champion to join them in the future.