Red Bull RB22

[Madhouse]

Car thread.
Red Bull RB22



Mod edit…
Let’s keep car threads technical, livery reveals/discussion should be in the Team threads only.

[Holm86]

[HungarianRacer]

Seems like inward-tapering rear bodyworks are back... With that, I also expect PU packaging to become a major performance-differentiating area of development once again aswell, alongside with rear suspension geometry and shrouding (for aero).

[lio007]

Be aware the renderings do not represent the real car!

[FrukostScones]

Be aware the renderings do not represent the real car!

but it looks pretty real. even more so the Racing Bull. one can dream.

the FW and those new "barge boards" or they are called look not real.

[bananapeel23]

Seems like inward-tapering rear bodyworks are back... With that, I also expect PU packaging to become a major performance-differentiating area of development once again aswell, alongside with rear suspension geometry and shrouding (for aero).

So would PU packaging becoming even more important provide a strong incentive to try and shrink components? I'm guessing the battery would be perhaps the easiest part to substantially shrink, since you could conceivably try to run solid-state batteries, which yield massive energy density benefits.

Solid-state batteries do seem to be nearing commercial readiness at this point, since products including them were shown off at CES this year and are supposedly shipping to consumers in products in Q1 2026.

A quick glance seems to indicate that Ford has been investing fairly heavily in solid-state batteries, as well as Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Honda.

Is it possible or likely that teams are going to go down that route in 2026, or is it likely to still be too early?

[Badger]

Also, the livery reveal renders are not the real car either. There are some bits on there meant to get people talking. But as for the real cars...

They are built and have been in the factory running on the dyno. All is going well and the car will be ready for testing.

[Owen.C93]

Looks more like the RB7/RB8 rear end.

Can’t believe that was 14 years ago though…

[CjC]

Courtesy of Autosport.

Is the actuator for the front wing under the nose cone?

That’s awesome if it is

[AR3-GP]

I think that having the freedom to precisely control the PU layout is significant. It could be optimized around the aerodynamics and center of mass.

[Stu]

https://i.postimg.cc/vmbZzSzG/image.png

I think that having the freedom to precisely control the PU layout is significant. It could be optimized around the aerodynamics and center of mass.

The left-hand manifold looks really janky.

[hollus]

The usual reminder of the rules for car threads:

Car threads (the crown jewels of this site) are moderated more strictly than other threads and are meant to focus on the hardware and interpretation of how it works. Deletions will be frequent for excursions off topic. Why that rear wing will reduce drag is on topic, how that rear wing will give you a podium is not on topic.
We want them to be ultra focused and not unusably long.

- The thread will open when there is actual decent pictures of actual hardware, or at least a convincing render. Until then, plese, stick to the speculation threads or the team threads.

- No discussion of livery or drivers in the car threads, use the team threads for that.

- Posts about lap times, about track position and about wining and losing belong in the team tread, race threads or bespoke threads, but not in the car thread. They may be sniped mercilessly if in a car thread.

- Hypotheticals are also better suited for the team threads, please stick to pieces that have appeared or obviously will appear on the actual car.

- Car comparisons are OK as long as they focus on THIS car. For comparisons of all cars, please use team threads, race threads or comparison threads.

P.S. it looks likely that the renders contain at lest some truth, so... game on?!...

[dren]

https://i.postimg.cc/vmbZzSzG/image.png

I think that having the freedom to precisely control the PU layout is significant. It could be optimized around the aerodynamics and center of mass.

The left-hand manifold looks really janky.

Yeah, the forward cylinder exhaust looks really odd the way it is bent/routed.

[dren]

I would not be surprised if this is the launch spec for testing. Looks pretty good. Tight rear.

[Vappy]

https://i.postimg.cc/vmbZzSzG/image.png

I think that having the freedom to precisely control the PU layout is significant. It could be optimized around the aerodynamics and center of mass.

I'm more surprised by such a poor model being used than anything. At this point, historically and objectively, it's difficult to take what teams show us at this stage, but that is a god awful model, and I doubt anyone took it seriously - unless that is not a model used by a team's PR / media team, then fair enough.

For reference, a honda engine: