Translated from the Dutch Motorsport.com:
Red Bull open about correlation problems in F1: "Never completely solved"
Technical director Pierre Waché discusses the correlation problems that Red Bull Racing experienced in the past Formula 1 season and explains why they have never been completely solved, not even in 2025.
When asked whether Red Bull has now completely solved the correlation problem, Waché responded with a laugh at the start of the winter break: "No. It will never be completely solved." According to the 52-year-old Frenchman, this is because the correlation between theory and practice will never be one hundred percent. "And what is more: if you keep the same regulations for a certain period of time, the improvements you are looking for are increasingly smaller. Then the accuracy of your tools has to be increasingly greater." Waché indicates that the top teams are now so evenly matched that teams look at marginal gains - very small profit margins - which means that correlation is even more about the details.
"Because you're looking for small things, the correlation aspect becomes even more important. On the aero side, and the same goes for the suspension, you're looking at two or three points of downforce for the floor, the bodywork, etc. That then also affects parts of the car that you don't test in the wind tunnel, simply because you can't simulate them in CFD. That's where it starts to get dangerous," explains the Red Bull Racing technical chief. It's exactly what happened in 2024: Red Bull came up with novelties that in theory should have given more downforce, but in practice had unwanted side effects and upset the balance of the car.
"It's improved [at the moment] in the areas that we understand. But in Formula 1 you're always on the verge of a new problem," laughs the technical director. "That's the reality and that's also why we're here, to anticipate problems that you might have." According to Waché, that's what makes the premier class so interesting. “It is dangerous to blindly trust the system. I am not saying that we should not trust it, but you have to put everything into perspective and know that on the track you do not reproduce exactly what you test.”
“Even on the track, the situation can change from day to day. The wind can be different and the tyres can completely change the behaviour of a car. Moreover, we must not forget what we are talking about. We are talking about one millisecond, so that makes it difficult.” Waché also makes it clear that not blindly trusting the numbers should be the mindset within an F1 team. “A team is only good if you have doubts and are never sure of yourself. If you are sure of yourself, then you know that you are failing.”
https://nl.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-b ... /10691541/