RB boss Laurent Mekies revealed to Motorsport Week that the squad’s new aerodynamics headquarters at Milton Keynes is key to challenging the top Formula 1 teams.
RB is set to move into its new aero department at Milton Keynes from Bicester towards the end of 2024.
The Red Bull ‘sister’ squad has long since “outgrown” the Bicester facility it moved into 15 years ago.
Such is its outdated nature, the team no longer uses the wind tunnel within the Bicester site, instead utilising Red Bull’s facility.
“Now the facility is simply not good enough,” Mekies told Motorsport Week.
“We are building something at an incredible standard in Milton Keynes for our people.
“For sure it’s going to be instrumental in working in better conditions, being even more attractive on the job market for the next challenges.
“We have a good headquarters in Faenza. We had a suboptimal headquarters in Bicester and now we have an excellent headquarters in Milton Keynes.
“So, yes, it is absolutely a must in that path to challenge the bigger guys.”
RB is currently sixth in the Constructors’ standings with 34 points, enjoying a slender three-point margin over Haas.
Motorsport Week spoke with Mekies during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend at Zandvoort.
The Faenza-based RB outfit failed to score at Zandvoort and hasn’t picked up a point since before the summer break.
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RB poised to challenge top five teams in F1
Back in August, Mekies’ target for RB in 2024 was to finish “top of the midfield” and he has grander designs for the Faenza-based F1 squad moving forward
“I think you always want more in Formula 1,” said Mekies.
“If you prove yourself, you can be P6.
“If tomorrow you can prove yourself, you can be P5. You will always want more.
“So your five-year span is to get as close as you can from the top. Also, if you want to hire the really good guys and girls, you will need to have that ambition anyway.”
McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin all have a firm grasp on their respective positions in the top five of F1’s pecking order.
Aston Martin, fifth in that heirachy currently has 86 points to RB’s 34.
Still, RB CEO Peter Bayer is hopeful that RB can challenge the top five F1 teams in the future.
“Now, we might not be able to fight for the top one, two, three realistically,” Bayer explained to Motorsport Week.
“But I think to be there, P6, sniffing to P5, and then, getting hungry for P4, I think that needs to be the ambition, mixing it with that young, authentic, cool spirit.”
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