2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[f1isgood]

https://racingnews365.com/red-bull-ques ... nning-ways

"Technical director Pierre Waché said the floor had delivered more performance than anticipated. It is hoped Verstappen will now be competitive at the majority of the remaining eight races."

Hope this is true but it's too late for anything significant unfortunately
In any case winning a few more races would be a great way to cap off this cycle.

[f1isgood]

He qualified 6th in his category (despite 125hp power deficit and 35kg ballast) and completed the 14 laps in the race, however he couldn't do another stint with another squad because the second car had issue (this was a requisite instead of competing in two different races because he already is FIA grade platinum licensed), so the license for the GT3 is still in doubt. He can either do a second race in the future, or receive an examption from a committee that is evaluating the case. They say that in the past the second was applied in these cases.

https://autoracer.it/max-verstappen-al- ... YwJGwwJGgw

I don't think it's worth reading much into the results. I think the folks driving the cars weren't fully professional either.

[f1isgood]

You are overstating the amount of technical knowledge that a single person has in a team. Mekies will have to be a special one to have anywhere near as much success as Horner had on track.

You misunderstood what I meant.
Of course, no single person can have knowledge of all the minute details of any moderately complex technological product, forget an F1 car.

What I meant was - regarding the four broad aspects of an F1 car - powertrain, chassis, aero, operations/strategy , having a TP with engineering knowledge will allow him to better judge whether a proposal/idea falls in the category of possible/remotely-possible/absolute-BS/cartoonish etc. This is important, look what happened to Mercedes in the ground effect era. Look how Mclaren transformed once the changes were made at the apex of the technical org, and how Brown isn't the TP. Look how Redbull peaked in the early part of ground effect era, when Newey was in such a 'calling the shots' position. Time is very costly in this budget cap era of F1, so 'getting the calls atleast reasonably correct the first time itself' is more important than ever before. There isn't room to experiment, so not getting blindsided by any one department with an overtly optimistic proposal is important. The TP should be able to decide 'hmm.. maybe X is overestimating his teams ability'. Redbull had Newey in such a role, beside Horner (during both successful and non-successful eras) and that is an important reason for the hit-rate of this team.

It remains to be seen, how good Mekies is, in making such direction calls. Being an engineer is helpful, but not a guarantee. That was my point.

I think I disagree with you on basically most of the points as I think it ignores several aspects. But that's okay as we can all agree to disagree.

Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari were all going to the budget cap era with oversized teams, having to necessarily cut people and not expand as much. McLaren expanded during the budget cap era. This meant they could overpay for good people from other teams. Of course having people is only one aspect but putting things together is important and McLaren did that after failing for a good while. Again, I would give due credit to Stella but I would argue his role was much more minimal and what was important was Brown getting the right people and them taking time to put things together.

Mercedes essentially went down a completely different route to everyone else and that meant more undoing than everyone else. I think they spent more time ending up where others ended up a couple of years earlier and with all due respect, they are basically within the same ballpark as Red Bull/Ferrari in half the races. That's not too bad. It's just that when you start behind, it's much harder to chase the final few tenths. I also think they had the biggest brain drain of all teams and that had begun much earlier. From 17-21 they had to more or less iterate the designs to a certain degree, barring the front wing changes of 19 that they benefitted from -- so their relative drop in technical prowess wasn't that visible given they also had an engine advantage. I'd argue their aero team was tested only really in 22 and they got it wrong.

I don't think Newey was calling the shots and at least hasn't called most of the shots since 2018. Newey of course has fantastic experience the engineers draw from but I seriously doubt Newey's expertise is all that is central to a 1000 people team. In that case the team might as well downsize and just pay Newey 100m. You can see what Newey himself has to say about his role in his direct interviews with Mark Hughes from mid 2022. He's just there and if engineers want they'll use his expertise. He had essentially grown beyond most of the technical team's ideation stage. It's also hard to quantify the role he has - but I'd give credit where it's due - to the technical team outside of Newey mostly.

We have 0 evidence that Mekies can make a successful team. I hope for his sake that he can. But nothing we know so far shows anything of that kind but I'll leave this discussion to 2026.

[Sergej]

He qualified 6th in his category (despite 125hp power deficit and 35kg ballast) and completed the 14 laps in the race, however he couldn't do another stint with another squad because the second car had issue (this was a requisite instead of competing in two different races because he already is FIA grade platinum licensed), so the license for the GT3 is still in doubt. He can either do a second race in the future, or receive an examption from a committee that is evaluating the case. They say that in the past the second was applied in these cases.

https://autoracer.it/max-verstappen-al- ... YwJGwwJGgw

I don't think it's worth reading much into the results. I think the folks driving the cars weren't fully professional either.

I don't think I read into those results, just reported facts. We'll see when he competes in a proper race.

[Sieper]

Leclerc raced Le Mans, for Ferrari. Ok, maybe in a dominant(ish?) car, but still.

Charles Leclerc didn't race Le Mans.

Your right, he was just a spectator. I had it in my mind he also drove. But no.hmmm.

[Wouter]

After Max Verstappen’s record-breaking weekend in Monza, Matt Majendie speaks to Max’s lead mechanic Matt Caller
to go behind the scenes.

From the fastest lap in F1 history to the intensity of race-day decisions, they talk through the garage atmosphere,
the bond between driver and crew, and what it feels like to witness “Max Magic” up close.

For the entire season Matt Majendie and Rick Edwards are embedded with Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team.
Matt will be in the pits and in the garage, with the drivers and in the factory, at the debriefs and the strategy session.

[Wouter]

In the newest episode of Talking Bull, Nicola is joined by a very special guest… YUKI!!! 🫶

They discuss all things from life at the factory and his love of food (of course) to working with Gordon Ramsay and working with Max

Yuki also takes on questions from listeners and young fans, reflects on his friendships with drivers, and gives his unfiltered thoughts on racing, karaoke, hidden talents, and life beyond Formula 1

[venkyhere]

Stumbled upon a 'catchy headline' in one of the F1 websites, which piqued my curiosity :
https://www.planetf1.com/news/uncovered ... ian-gp-win

Then looked at data :


Can someone help me understand what that article is talking about ?

[Henk_v]

Ford has announced a 1000 worker layoff in Europe as the brand struggles with the electrification of its models.

As one of the least accomplished brands in regard to electric technology, I've always been highly sceptical of the values the brand can deliver besides any monetaire commitment. I can't help but assume that Ford isn't exactly pushing the borders at RBPT...

[lio007]

Ford has announced a 1000 worker layoff in Europe as the brand struggles with the electrification of its models.

As one of the least accomplished brands in regard to electric technology, I've always been highly sceptical of the values the brand can deliver besides any monetaire commitment. I can't help but assume that Ford isn't exactly pushing the borders at RBPT...

They struggle in Europe, in America their EV's and Hybrids are quite successful.
Audi and Mercedes are struggling as well in terms of sales. And I think in the car market most of the OEMs are using basically a similar technology.

Jim Farley recently said that Ford has more than 180000 employees so they are very capable and willing of supporting RBPT.

[Juzh]

Stumbled upon a 'catchy headline' in one of the F1 websites, which piqued my curiosity :
https://www.planetf1.com/news/uncovered ... ian-gp-win

Then looked at data :
https://i.ibb.co/ZzTV9sqG/RB21-engine-modes-monza.png

Can someone help me understand what that article is talking about ?

Planetf1, nuff said

[Henk_v]

Ford has announced a 1000 worker layoff in Europe as the brand struggles with the electrification of its models.

As one of the least accomplished brands in regard to electric technology, I've always been highly sceptical of the values the brand can deliver besides any monetaire commitment. I can't help but assume that Ford isn't exactly pushing the borders at RBPT...

They struggle in Europe, in America their EV's and Hybrids are quite successful.
Audi and Mercedes are struggling as well in terms of sales. And I think in the car market most of the OEMs are using basically a similar technology.

Jim Farley recently said that Ford has more than 180000 employees so they are very capable and willing of supporting RBPT.

Yes, that was my initial thought too. But F1 is , despite some US interest, still 80% european.
Ford is a staple of American culture and has a very large loyal customer base. Sure they will buy whatever is shoved up their driveway, but Ford is not really at the forefront of the technology and their proprietary IP of value to an F1 team would be quite low in my estimate. They are a true "second wave" manuafacturer.

[lio007]

Ford has announced a 1000 worker layoff in Europe as the brand struggles with the electrification of its models.

As one of the least accomplished brands in regard to electric technology, I've always been highly sceptical of the values the brand can deliver besides any monetaire commitment. I can't help but assume that Ford isn't exactly pushing the borders at RBPT...

They struggle in Europe, in America their EV's and Hybrids are quite successful.
Audi and Mercedes are struggling as well in terms of sales. And I think in the car market most of the OEMs are using basically a similar technology.

Jim Farley recently said that Ford has more than 180000 employees so they are very capable and willing of supporting RBPT.

Yes, that was my initial thought too. But F1 is , despite some US interest, still 80% european.
Ford is a staple of American culture and has a very large loyal customer base. Sure they will buy whatever is shoved up their driveway, but Ford is not really at the forefront of the technology and their proprietary IP of value to an F1 team would be quite low in my estimate. They are a true "second wave" manufacturer.

The problem for OEMs like Ford or VW is their customers are in the "mass market". In this segment prices must be kept at a reasonable level and therefore can not use cutting edge technology. Premium brands like Audi or Mercedes can afford slightly better components to achieve better performance. (Although in Audi's case it's actually a lot of VW components that are used )

But: I'm sure every OEM, including Ford, do research on cutting edge technology to learn and apply it on a price friendly level in their cars. For sure some will do more r&d than others, but I think Ford has some good engineers that can offer help and guidance for the '26 PU, although I don't quite get it how this support from Ford fits the PU cost cap.

Anyway, in about 120 days we will get a first impression whether RBPT will start like Renault in 2014 (I highly doubt it) or if they are doing pretty decent.

[AR3-GP]

Albon:

“So even if I went through the same thing I did now, I'd be able to really focus on where is he truly gaining his lap time and why is he able to execute and be so consistent with a car that felt to me so so peaky but yeah i did learn i learned his raw speed and i learned… sounds a really weird thing to say but why is the car that he drives quick to drive like what is it about going in that setup direction gets lap time.”

Alex Albon also hinted at how Max Verstappen influenced his car set-up at the Williams Racing outfit. The 29-year-old admitted how he tilted the Williams team car to become more edgier in what was aimed at achieving quicker lap times.
“I remember when I first went to Williams, I was like, well, this car is way more stable, but it's not always quick. You're losing lap time in certain corners because it's too stable, let's say. So we kind of pushed it more towards a bit more of an edgier car, and we got more lap time out of it. I feel like I've learned a lot in that process.”

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/albon-co ... s-teammate

This is something that Lawson, Tsunoda, and Perez have all pointed out in the past. When they were able to get the Red Bull into a "comfortable" window for their own ability, then it was just "slow".

Lawson in China:

Liam Lawson after FP2: "I feel comfortable, but I'm just too slow. We have a lot of work to do tonight. On the first day at a new circuit you always expect some work, but probably not as much as now. We'll work on it tonight and try to improve tomorrow."

Yuki in Japan:

“I think the car is able to achieve the same balance I used to have at VCARB – but just, it doesn’t always help performance.“So I just have to dig in further, don’t know yet what set-up will make the car faster.”

“Now, I just naturally didn’t have to think about it before, but now, in terms of set-ups… The set-up I tried a couple of time in Suzuka that I thought would be good, just didn’t work out – even when in the car, the balance felt good, the lap time didn’t reflect it.

“So that needs to come from experience, and sometimes you just have to accept the difficulties of the car. Like, if it feels like a lot of understeer or oversteer, but lap time is good, probably stick to that direction. It’s a different approach. I’m learning as much as possible.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... v5iky28pyp

[WardenOfTheNorth]

For anyone interested, TX Maxx have the current season team wear in at the moment. Team t-shirts are £16.99..!!