2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[f1isgood]

It's looking to be Renault era Red Bull of 2017 with better reliability. But actual outcomes maybe worse because McLaren are now serious.

Bad comparison. Renault era was lacking power and not having any control over it. This is just them lacking load and probably being a bit heavier than the top cars. All things they can fix if they do a good job. There's no power difference to the Ferrari in the telemetry, nor the Merc for that matter (though everyone seems to assume they are sanbagging).

They don't have much control over the engine either. It's next year once it's homologated on March 1st. Red Bull does lack power relative to Mercedes for all we have heard. I think it's a lot more tricky to read telemetry this year when so many games that can be played with deployment.

They lack downforce. Somewhere between 3 tenths to 5 tenths from what I can say. I think that gap is very hard to bridge with in-season development especially given Ferrari (the likely fastest team rn) have more resources (after finishing fourth) and have likely enjoyed better correlation with the tools. The last bit comes because Wache said they expected more from the chassis side of things last week, so I am assuming it has to do something with correlation.

[f1isgood]

So much doom.
Has Max even touched the C4?
I have only seen him with the Test tyre and he posted the same lap time as Russell 20 minutes later.
More than 160 laps by RB btw.
Amazing work by RBPT.

I don't think it's much to do with doom. We have had 9 days of testing and 6 with telemetry. A consistent theme is Red Bull have lacked in the most important Sector 2 at Bahrain. Fundamentally there is no reason for this weakness to disappear.

That said, it is indeed amazing work by RBPT. I think they are up there with the other engine manufacturers except Mercedes, which would be massive if it's true given where they started from.

[Valeo]

So much doom.
Has Max even touched the C4?
I have only seen him with the Test tyre and he posted the same lap time as Russell 20 minutes later.
More than 160 laps by RB btw.
Amazing work by RBPT.

I don't think it's much to do with doom. We have had 9 days of testing and 6 with telemetry. A consistent theme is Red Bull have lacked in the most important Sector 2 at Bahrain. Fundamentally there is no reason for this weakness to disappear.

That said, it is indeed amazing work by RBPT. I think they are up there with the other engine manufacturers except Mercedes, which would be massive if it's true given where they started from.

I mean it's only one track and we still don't really know at which kind of tracks the different teams struggle or excel.

They were also nowhere in Bahrain last year (also in S2 and S3) but won the race before at Suzuka and could have won the race after Jeddah.

By no means it's certain they'll compete for the championship.
Just want to point out that past says things can change really quick.

[Badger]

It's looking to be Renault era Red Bull of 2017 with better reliability. But actual outcomes maybe worse because McLaren are now serious.

Bad comparison. Renault era was lacking power and not having any control over it. This is just them lacking load and probably being a bit heavier than the top cars. All things they can fix if they do a good job. There's no power difference to the Ferrari in the telemetry, nor the Merc for that matter (though everyone seems to assume they are sanbagging).

They don't have much control over the engine either. It's next year once it's homologated on March 1st. Red Bull does lack power relative to Mercedes for all we have heard. I think it's a lot more tricky to read telemetry this year when so many games that can be played with deployment.

They lack downforce. Somewhere between 3 tenths to 5 tenths from what I can say. I think that gap is very hard to bridge with in-season development especially given Ferrari (the likely fastest team rn) have more resources (after finishing fourth) and have likely enjoyed better correlation with the tools. The last bit comes because Wache said they expected more from the chassis side of things last week, so I am assuming it has to do something with correlation.

Where the deficit lies is clear in the data, and it's not on the engine. If you want to speculate about Merc showing up with a lot more power you can do that, we simply don't know yet.

[euv2]

The car from what we've seen so far is very clearly 4th fastest, lap time for the other 3 seems to come much easier in sector 2, RB22 looks just heavy and could never set a purple mini sector in any corner, even though I think they were sandbagging today, whatever they have in reserve is not enough to challenge.

[Badger]

I'd put them probably 0,6s away from the front in Bahrain. Wouldn't be surprised if half of that is weight, the rest downforce. Power is fine.

[organic]

Outlook: 4th

[AR3-GP]

Aside from the water leaks, PU and the drivetrain has been solid and reliable (so far) in both the RBR and the customer car. They were able to stress test it in the heat. LIN has done 160 laps today which is the most laps done on any day of testing for any RBPT powered car.

[venkyhere]

Outlook: 4th

That's 'par' or 'fine' in my books. PU is reliable (they didn't stop on track with an 'issue' other than a water leak) and they were the ones to quickly figure out 'deployment algorithm for long runs' via aggressive downshifting. Since then, the other three caught up eventually by fine tuning their PU algorithms and optimized their laptime. In the end, RBR ended up 4th fastest (Q sim or R sim). What more can be expected from a 1st time PU maker (even if they have been developing it for 2.5-3 yrs) ? My hunch (even if an unqualified one) says they have the best aero package of the big4 ; and once they shed weight (seem like heaviest of the big4), will be competitive.
Only concern I have is that Hadjar simply was not able to put together a Q lap, neither were his long runs anywhere close to Verstappen, giving deja-vu vibes of the poison chalice that is the 2nd RBR seat.

[Silent Storm]

Where is this car being heavier rumor coming from?

[AR3-GP]

Where is this car being heavier rumor coming from?

From the chef: viewtopic.php?p=1325588#p1325588

[AR3-GP]

Jos Verstappen says he is satisfied with the RB22 and the RBPT engine:

“You never really know. Of course, you never see what’s truly behind the tests, but I have to say I’m satisfied with what’s happening.”

“Especially when you look at the engine. It’s powerful and reliable. In the first race we’ll really see where it stands. We’re satisfied; there were only a few small issues. Of course, there are always some adjustments to make, but for now it’s working very well. It’s accumulating mileage. It’s promising.”

[organic]

Max says it's obvious they have a lot of work to do to be faster, and they will have to work hard.

[Seanspeed]

Where is this car being heavier rumor coming from?

From the chef: viewtopic.php?p=1325588#p1325588

Where he also says everybody is in the same boat, so doesn't really mean anything. Does not mean they are heavier than anybody else, let alone everybody.

[f1isgood]

Where is this car being heavier rumor coming from?

From the chef: viewtopic.php?p=1325588#p1325588

Where he also says everybody is in the same boat, so doesn't really mean anything. Does not mean they are heavier than anybody else, let alone everybody.

In any case they lack half a second, heavy or not to the front running teams (Ferrari/Mercedes). That's all there's to know. It's an uphill development battle.