After an exhilarating first half of the 2021 season, Formula 1 is back at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. It has been one of the most exciting seasons in years, with Red Bull Racing Honda driver Max Verstappen battling for the driver’s title and the team fighting to become the 2021 Constructor’s Champion.

Some of the key factors that determine the team’s success are the design, analysis and evolution of the car throughout the season. Every track is different and requires the 2021 Red Bull Racing Honda F1 car, the RB16B, to have a different set up. In 2021, a total of 23 races are scheduled over four continents, COVID-19 permitting.

“This means 23 different tracks, each with their own, unique, individual characteristics: different shapes, altitudes, layouts, elevations and temperatures,” says Zoe Chilton, Head of Strategic Partnerships. “There are so many variables that the car needs to be adapted for each time we travel to a new circuit. It’s impossible to race with the same car throughout the entire season, it simply doesn’t work. The core elements of the car will stay the same during the season — for example the chassis, gearbox, engine and tires. However, the aerodynamic package of the car — including the rear wing, front wing, floor, and bodywork of the car — will evolve. Subtle adaptations made from one race to the next help Red Bull Racing Honda adapt and maximize performance to fit any specific circuit. In total, the RB16B will feature 1,000 new parts per race and up to 30,000 changes throughout this season.”

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are vital to analyzing and testing the changes before they’re implemented over a race weekend. It’s the process the team uses to test elements of the car design in an entirely virtual world. They can create a digital twin of the car and simulate the effect of how the car interacts with the air passing over it. It’s essentially a virtual wind tunnel. The use and efficiency of CFD has grown significantly over the years and with the help of innovation partners like Citrix.

While many parts of the F1 car are solely tested and simulated by CFD, other parts are analyzed in a wind tunnel, through which a “jet” of air is passed. A powerful fan is used to create the “jet” and various techniques are employed to ensure high-quality airflow.

Image of wind tunnel used for race car testing
Red Bull Racing Honda wind tunnel

Per FIA regulations, the wind speed is limited to 50 meters/second (180 km/h). A 60 percent scaled down model of the race car is mounted in the working section of the tunnel, suspended from above using a vertical beam called a sting. This allows the model to rest just above a rolling road, simulating the track. The model can move in several directions, and engineers test the model at different attitudes, simulating on-track performance. In years past, the amount of aerodynamic development, wind tunnel usage as well as CFD hours, were unrestricted. This allowed top teams to run their wind tunnels 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sometimes with multiple tunnels in use.

In recent years, new FIA restrictions have limited F1 teams to 65 runs per week in the wind tunnel. In 2020, in conjunction with the introduction of the budget cap, this default allowance was reduced by more than 30 percent to just 40 runs per week. In 2021, each team’s allowance of wind tunnel and CFD testing time is defined by on-track performance meaning the 2020 Constructor’s Champion is allocated the least amount of time in the wind tunnel this year (90 percent of the 2020 allowance, 36 runs per week) and the team who finished last receives the most time (112.5 percent of the 2020 allowance, 45 runs per week). For 2022, the differences will be even more significant, 70 percent of the 2020 allowance, 28 runs per week for the Constructor’s Champion and 115 percent of the 2020 allocation, 46 runs per week for the last team on the grid. It is not possible to swap CFD hours for wind tunnel runs, so teams will have to use their time wisely.

Earlier this year, Scuderia Alpha Tauri, the second Red Bull-owned team in Formula 1 and considered to be Red Bull’s development team for young and upcoming drivers from its Red Bull Junior Team, joined Red Bull Racing Honda in using the wind tunnel facility in Bedford. Scuderia Alpha Tauri were previously the only team on the grid using a wind tunnel that tested on a 50 percent model of the race car. All other teams used a facility that could accommodate a 60 percent model. In addition to helping with testing, sharing the same wind tunnel facility saves both Red Bull teams a huge amount of money, a welcome benefit with Formula 1’s recent budget cap.

Although Scuderia Alpha Tauri is Red Bull Racing Honda’s “sister team,” both teams are protective of their respective design secrets. On top of that, there are strict FIA regulations around data sharing between teams. Data need to be kept entirely separate and secure.

Citrix technology is vital to this process: All the control rooms at the wind tunnel facility have been virtualized with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. This means that the teams can both share the same physical space but work in completely separate digital environments, with Citrix Workspace allowing both teams to switch easily in between testing sessions. Red Bull Racing Honda and Scuderia Alpha Tauri data are stored separately and securely. The systems can be switched between both teams quickly, which keeps the downtime to a minimum and saves precious time.

“To try and keep costs under control, F1 strictly limits the amount of time that teams are permitted for wind tunnel testing,” says George Trigg, Red Bull Racing Honda’s Head of Aerodynamic Systems Development. “Therefore we need to be exceptionally efficient in how we manage the facility between ourselves and Scuderia Alpha Tauri. Citrix gives us this efficiency, agility, and security.”

With Citrix Workspace, the team can share the same facility and method of access to resources in two separate infrastructures. The reduction in wind tunnel system setup and configuration time for each team increases efficiency. As one team finishes testing, their engineers just disconnect from their infrastructure and vacate the facility, leaving it ready for the other team to occupy. To get set up, the other team just connects Citrix Workspace to their virtual machines and applications, drastically reducing the time spent reconfiguring the environment for the configuration of each team.

As Red Bull Racing Honda continues to seek performance gains throughout the remainder of the 2021 calendar, Citrix will keep playing its vital role to unlock the potential of the RB16B utilizing the wind tunnel as well as virtually enhancing the CFD process. Learn more about how Red Bull Racing Honda fuels its need for speed with digital technology from Citrix.