Racing Bulls’ transition across to working in its new Milton Keynes facility has begun, with its days operating out of Bicester coming to an end.

Having operated out of its Bicester facility for aerodynamic work for many years, the Racing Bulls squad has moved into brand-new offices at the Red Bull Technology Campus in Milton Keynes.

Peter Bayer welcomes ‘state-of-the-art’ facility at Milton Keynes

As part of the effort to increase the synergy between the two Red Bull-owned F1 teams, the Racing Bulls (VCARB) team will see its UK operations move into brand-new facilities on Red Bull’s campus after months of hard work to prepare for the move.

Alongside its main factory at Faenza in Italy, the Racing Bulls squad has long had an aero facility based out of Bicester in the United Kingdom. Alongside basing the aerodynamics department at this facility, part of the design office was also based in Bicester in order to be close to the wind tunnel.

However, with a much expanded aero department in recent years, as well as a move to begin using Red Bull’s wind tunnel in 2022, the decision was made to construct a new bespoke facility. Work began last year on building a new UK home for the Racing Bulls team, which will be located at the Red Bull Technology campus in Milton Keynes, beside the Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Powertrains buildings.

The Milton Keynes site is now ready to be up and running, and Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer told PlanetF1.com the base is now operational.

“The Milton Keynes office is ready,” he said.

“We have had the IT guys there actually fitting it out, making it, because the plan is to have everything ready for the people, over the shutdown, to make the move and to be operational as of January 2, to not lose any time in terms of the development, model shop, the wind tunnel, and everything.

“So there won’t be any losses and it’s a game-changer because it’s a state-of-the-art facility.

“Bicester is still, more or less, the old Reynard facility. We put in a couple of new desks and a new carpet, but that’s about it. So there’s no parking, no canteen, and no supermarket around to get some food. The gym is tiny and old. It’s just not up to date anymore.

“It’s also too small for us, actually.

“We’ve not had enough space. The guys, like Jody [Egginton – VCARB technical director] and Alan [Permane – VCARB racing director], when they’re both in the office, they have an office the size of this table that they’re sharing back to back.

“I think it’s part of being an attractive employer – obviously to have nice working facilities and that’s what will change.”

With preparation work for the F1 2025 season already well underway, the capabilities of the new facilities aren’t likely to translate into performance gains in the immediate future, but Bayer suspects the team won’t have to wait until 2026’s regulations changes to start reaping the rewards of the move.

“A nice office doesn’t necessarily give you lap time, but it does, immediately, make us a more attractive employer, because, in Milton Keynes, we’ll have a nice canteen,” he said, “And, for the time being, we won’t have a gym, but we’ll have a contract with a local gym where the guys can go until ours is ready.

“The model shop, because, again, we’re building with all new machinery there, everything will be state-of-the-art and we’re investing into new CFD facilities.

“So it might, and should, actually give us a bit of a boost for 2025 already.”

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Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Racing Bulls team boss Laurent Mekies was asked about what the move to the new facility will mean for the team in terms of balancing 2025 development against looking ahead to ’26.

“I think the biggest effect on the 2025 car is probably some of the changes we’ve made to our processes – some of the people we have managed to add to certain areas where we want to be stronger,” he said.

“The facilities will come a bit later, because we move there in January. As you know, everybody will stop the ’25 development quite early.”

Laurent Mekies: F1 2026 development will immediately begin

Aerodynamic and CFD work on the F1 2026 cars has not been permitted up to this point but, as of January 1st 2025, the teams are allowed to start putting the ideas they have for 2026 into practice and to start understanding the new regulations – and Mekies said Racing Bulls will be putting their first iterations straight into the wind tunnel.

“So typically, on January 1st or January 2nd, we will be running the ’26 model in the tunnel, but not forever,” he said.

“We are not scrapping ’25, but you will take the first opportunity that the FIA gives you – January 2nd – to run that model.

“Then, yes, the ’25 car will go back to the tunnel, but certainly for a limited time. But it’s a fantastic facility and, of course, it will be part of the team having a genuine chance to go and fight the manufacturers.”

Having previously been open about the Bicester facility being something of a weakness for the team, the unveiling of a brand-new facility has set Racing Bulls up to have something of an advantage over its rivals, believes Mekies.

Rather than forcing employees or prospects to uproot their lives, he said, the ability to slot in and work in either the UK or Italy facilities makes the team a more attractive prospect.

“What we have decided consciously, right or wrong, is that we have decided to move away from the model where aero is in Bicester and pretty much the rest is in Italy. That’s finished,” he explained.

“Now we try to see the company as location-free. Anyone we want to hire, we take the best girls or guys. If they happen to be in Italy or in Europe, we take them in Europe.

“If they happen to be in the UK, we take them in the UK.

“We have one race engineer who is based in the UK, and the race engineer of the other car is in Europe, so that’s how we are looking into it. It’s a change.

“We felt that it would be the best chance to turn a logistical disadvantage into perhaps an advantage when we look for people.

“We have managed to grab a few guys from top teams on a purely personal life basis, because maybe one wants to have his life back in the UK, or another one wants to have a new life in Italy. So we try to turn that into an advantage.”

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