Formula 1 News: Red Bull designing 3 cars simultaneously

Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache has explained why the team is doing design on three cars at the moment:

2024 Car – Upgrades to hold off McLaren and Ferrari. Massive focus right now

2025 Car – the last year of current regulations

2026 Car – The first year of a major overhaul of F1 Technical Regulations

“I think the technical team is massively focused on the car and on the performance,” Wache told F1TV, at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, when asked how news of Newey’s impending departure had been taken internally and how confident he is in the technical department at Red Bull.

“For the current year and next year’s development, we have three cars to work on, [also with] 2026 that is a big change.

While Red Bull continues to work on its 2024 and 2025 cars, attention is slowly shifting towards the regulations changes in 2026, with F1 introducing a wide-scoped re-write of the power unit and aerodynamic rules.

The former has already been announced, with increased electrical output and 100 percent sustainable fuels being used for the first time in F1. Furthermore, Red Bull is taking engine production in-house – something it has not done before.

Although the latter section of the rules is yet to be confirmed, F1 is looking to introduce elements of ‘active aero’ to the new cars, which will pose a considerable challenge to the teams.

“I think we are looking forward, because the more you think about it, the more you can anticipate some issues,” Wache replied when he was asked about the most challenging aspects of the comprehensive regulations change in 2026.

“We will be able to work on the aero side only in the beginning of next year, then we are preparing ourselves. The engine is a big challenge also for us, and it’s looking promising.

“For sure, we work on it, and the main challenge is how to balance the resource between all these [current and future] projects.”