Red Bull RB22

[Farnborough]

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.

The whole thing looks AI naive in core aspects. Specifically around crank end which ordinarily has spec 4 mount points to gearbox in examples ive seen of previous regs (unknown if that changes for this set). The "bellhousing" interface, as commonly identified in general understanding, with detail for flywheel/clutch mounting to crank is just not present.

The whole exhaust route from head exit to turbo "collector" appears to have no detail of value to critique here.

[AR3-GP]

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.

I think it's a render of the PU. The turbocharger looks the same

[pantherxxx]

What immediately struck me was that the sidepods and the whole engine packaging on the RB22 render looks extremely compact, similar to the 2021 cars. While the Cadillac’s sidepods look bulky and elongated by comparison. This is definitely a good sign for Red Bull, perhaps the powertrain and electronics have become more compact than Ferrari's, or require less bodywork for cooling.

[f1316]

I don’t think we should expect many of the details on anything shown to be accurate - they might hint towards generally design ideas and certainly allow us to focus on potential areas of differentiation to look out for in the real cars, but they’re not showing even a basic a spec, even in the renders.

I do find the possibility for a more raised nose interesting. Red Bull’s render has a bit of this and my understanding (correct me if I’m wrong) is that you can go even further with this if you accept the tradeoff of moving the cockpit forward. That will be an interesting one to see where folks have landed because cockpit placement is not going to change from a to b spec cars or throughout the year.

[Seanspeed]

What immediately struck me was that the sidepods and the whole engine packaging on the RB22 render looks extremely compact, similar to the 2021 cars. While the Cadillac’s sidepods look bulky and elongated by comparison. This is definitely a good sign for Red Bull, perhaps the powertrain and electronics have become more compact than Ferrari's, or require less bodywork for cooling.

The Toro Rosso has a very wide sidepod at the bottom, while the Red Bull is much more narrow. Both have the same powertrain. Not sure it says too much about packaging at this point.

[wiktor977]

What immediately struck me was that the sidepods and the whole engine packaging on the RB22 render looks extremely compact, similar to the 2021 cars. While the Cadillac’s sidepods look bulky and elongated by comparison. This is definitely a good sign for Red Bull, perhaps the powertrain and electronics have become more compact than Ferrari's, or require less bodywork for cooling.

The Toro Rosso has a very wide sidepod at the bottom, while the Red Bull is much more narrow. Both have the same powertrain. Not sure it says too much about packaging at this point.

Teams use sidepods to control front tyre wake, which they want to keep outboard. So maybe Red Bull's front wing and bargeboard work better at managing tyre wake than others that's why they can use shorter/more sculpted sidepods, but again those are most likely not the real cars we will see during tests and the first race.

[AR3-GP]

What immediately struck me was that the sidepods and the whole engine packaging on the RB22 render looks extremely compact, similar to the 2021 cars. While the Cadillac’s sidepods look bulky and elongated by comparison. This is definitely a good sign for Red Bull, perhaps the powertrain and electronics have become more compact than Ferrari's, or require less bodywork for cooling.

I agree that there is something interesting here. It's not fully a "dummy car" and I think there are some areas that are hints about the direction of the car like the position of the cockpit and the sidepods. There are some twitter "experts" who believe that the sidepods can't be real only because they don't understand it. Red Bull has been able to design a PU from the ground up for their chassis. It's a decisive advantage that many customer teams do not have.

As Phil Prew, Red Bull Powertrains' chief engineer, said: "The very architecture of the power unit was able to be aligned with the concepts and the direction that we wanted to take with the chassis, to give maximum freedom for the aerodynamics.

"That work started right from the very concept and, as we built the power unit, put more complexity on, we were constantly working with our colleagues in the chassis side to understand the trades that we're making.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/unst ... -it-seems/

[ME4ME]

Straight rear wing support pillars on both the Red Bull and Racing Bulls renders. No swan-neck to carry the first element from above. Maybe there's some weight saving going on.

[icantride]

Straight rear wing support pillars on both the Red Bull and Racing Bulls renders. No swan-neck to carry the first element from above. Maybe there's some weight saving going on.

Swan neck wing supports are 'banned' in these regs, the wing support reg box doesn't extend above the top of the main plane meaning underside supports are all that's possible

[ME4ME]

Swan neck wing supports are 'banned' in these regs, the wing support reg box doesn't extend above the top of the main plane meaning underside supports are all that's possible

Thanks for the info, didn't know that. Did read that single support is also now a no-go - has to be double. Also more restrictions on items interacting with the exhaust. Support plates going through it now banned according to Kyle Engineers RB22 review.

These are good things to keep in mind, given all the enhanced pictures making the rounds. Some of the Audi pics have swan necks so thats a clear giveaway.

[AR3-GP]

[Emag]

RedBull has literally posted 3 different cars so far in different social media posts.
There's of course the render from the day of the livery launch (which the analysis above uses also)
There's another model in the instagram video of the 2026 team intro video.
And even though it's pretty much the same video in youtube, they show another car again at the youtube video.
(You have to pause these videos at the right moment to see the cars, as they pass by in a glimpse)

This is from their instagram video if I am not mistaken, and it shows completely different sidepods :



At this point, I am sure RedBull has made like 10 different renders of the car for media purposes and quite likely none of them reflect the real thing. Dr.Obs also confirmed in twitter that what has been shown so far are show models.
The analysis, in my opinion, is premature.

[AR3-GP]

This shows pullrod front suspension.

The other oddity is the number 1 in the livery.

[AR3-GP]

RedBull has literally posted 3 different cars so far in different social media posts.
There's of course the render from the day of the livery launch (which the analysis above uses also)
There's another model in the instagram video of the 2026 team intro video.
And even though it's pretty much the same video in youtube, they show another car again at the youtube video.
(You have to pause these videos at the right moment to see the cars, as they pass by in a glimpse)

This is from their instagram video if I am not mistaken, and it shows completely different sidepods :

https://ibb.co/fYZhTJYY

At this point, I am sure RedBull has made like 10 different renders of the car for media purposes and quite likely none of them reflect the real thing. Dr.Obs also confirmed in twitter that what has been shown so far are show models.
The analysis, in my opinion, is premature.

I agree that there are 3 cars.

(1) Detroit show model
(2) Launch renderings (visible in your youtube video)
(3) the instagram car.

[Emag]

RedBull has literally posted 3 different cars so far in different social media posts.
There's of course the render from the day of the livery launch (which the analysis above uses also)
There's another model in the instagram video of the 2026 team intro video.
And even though it's pretty much the same video in youtube, they show another car again at the youtube video.
(You have to pause these videos at the right moment to see the cars, as they pass by in a glimpse)

This is from their instagram video if I am not mistaken, and it shows completely different sidepods :

https://ibb.co/fYZhTJYY

At this point, I am sure RedBull has made like 10 different renders of the car for media purposes and quite likely none of them reflect the real thing. Dr.Obs also confirmed in twitter that what has been shown so far are show models.
The analysis, in my opinion, is premature.

I agree that there are 3 cars.

(1) Detroit show model
(2) Launch renderings (visible in your youtube video)
(3) the instagram car.

I don't deny the chance of one of these resembling the real car, but considering how many of these they seem to have available and posted already, it's hard to say with any degree of confidence which one is the most authentic one.
I am sure Kyle will probably make another video once we see the real deal, but this one is good content anyway. The livery model does have some nice details and even if they turn out to be "fake", the information value is there nonetheless.