2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

Yeah, Wache was definitely coping with that 0.3s gap prediction for Max. If Max had that much speed, he'd have much better race pace, he was miles behind Mercedes and Ferrari despite them being on longer stints.

Qualy conditions are different to race conditons. In qualy they can only harvest 7MJ. In the race they can harvest 8MJ. It makes the gap grow to Mercedes. Also cars with more downforce have better rear tire degradation and can deploy more consistently at low speeds which makes big difference to laptime.

You're right but Merc wasn't even pushing to the limits, there's more in the bag. It would be naive to underestimate the gap. At the moment I just don't see the gap being that small in qualifying, Mercedes has a deployment, engine and downforce advantage.

You're probably right, but I see no reason to think the first race will remain the gap for the entire season. It could get better.

[Jdn1327]

Is it safe to say that this Redbull has very good harvesting? Or is that just down to how max drives? He had at times 40% more battery available than Norris. Tough for Hadjar, I'm sure there is more to come from him.

[avantman]

Yeah, Wache was definitely coping with that 0.3s gap prediction for Max. If Max had that much speed, he'd have much better race pace, he was miles behind Mercedes and Ferrari despite them being on longer stints.

chassis aside, which is at very best 3rd best (for now, might become 4th very soon), It doesn’t look to me like RBPT is overall better PU than Ferrari as some experts were in a hurry to claim analyzing those useless open source overlays from the only Q session of the season . If you ask anyone at Ferrari I doubt they would agree with that claim.
This sort of advantage Mercedes has vs even the 2nd fastest car, let alone RBR tells me it is delusional even to dream it could be lost within one year. Who will be next to follow the footsteps of Horner and Mario to leave the team. Max or Wache? Will Max move to Mercedes. These are the only interesting topics for this year, when it comes to Red Bull racing.

[pantherxxx]

I mean Red Bull is super underdeveloped in aero side. The first big aero upgrade package and weight reduction will improve things massively. The engine and the electric side is already superb.

[AR3-GP]

I mean Red Bull is super underdeveloped in aero side. The first big aero upgrade package and weight reduction will improve things massively. The engine and the electric side is already superb.

I think they still have work to do on the PU side. Hadjar retired.

[lio007]

Yeah, Wache was definitely coping with that 0.3s gap prediction for Max. If Max had that much speed, he'd have much better race pace, he was miles behind Mercedes and Ferrari despite them being on longer stints.

chassis aside, which is at very best 3rd best (for now, might become 4th very soon), It doesn’t look to me like RBPT is overall better PU than Ferrari as some experts were in a hurry to claim analyzing those useless open source overlays from the only Q session of the season . If you ask anyone at Ferrari I doubt they would agree with that claim.
This sort of advantage Mercedes has vs even the 2nd fastest car, let alone RBR tells me it is delusional even to dream it could be lost within one year. Who will be next to follow the footsteps of Horner and Mario to leave the team. Max or Wache? Will Max move to Mercedes. These are the only interesting topics for this year, when it comes to Red Bull racing.

If it continues like that at Mercedes then there's absolutely no reason for them to sign Max.

[Jdn1327]

I mean Red Bull is super underdeveloped in aero side. The first big aero upgrade package and weight reduction will improve things massively. The engine and the electric side is already superb.

I think they still have work to do on the PU side. Hadjar retired.

Reliability is gonna be a game changer this season. And it'll happen to the top 4. You're gonna have at least one blown engine from each of them. Maybe getting this one out the way early on will help some learning about the new ice.

[Jdn1327]

Yeah, Wache was definitely coping with that 0.3s gap prediction for Max. If Max had that much speed, he'd have much better race pace, he was miles behind Mercedes and Ferrari despite them being on longer stints.

chassis aside, which is at very best 3rd best (for now, might become 4th very soon), It doesn’t look to me like RBPT is overall better PU than Ferrari as some experts were in a hurry to claim analyzing those useless open source overlays from the only Q session of the season . If you ask anyone at Ferrari I doubt they would agree with that claim.
This sort of advantage Mercedes has vs even the 2nd fastest car, let alone RBR tells me it is delusional even to dream it could be lost within one year. Who will be next to follow the footsteps of Horner and Mario to leave the team. Max or Wache? Will Max move to Mercedes. These are the only interesting topics for this year, when it comes to Red Bull racing.

If it continues like that at Mercedes then there's absolutely no reason for them to sign Max.

I disagree with this. While George may seem a favourite in the team, Wolff has always regarded Max very highly. Why wouldn't you want the fastest driver in the fastest car? Marketing and general endorsements will make it highly lucrative as well.

[lio007]

oof PU failure of Hadjar.

Not a single kaboom during testing and when it counts we have it.
Overall a reality check for chassis and PU. Both have some homework to do.

[madsonit]

Yeah, Wache was definitely coping with that 0.3s gap prediction for Max. If Max had that much speed, he'd have much better race pace, he was miles behind Mercedes and Ferrari despite them being on longer stints.

chassis aside, which is at very best 3rd best (for now, might become 4th very soon), It doesn’t look to me like RBPT is overall better PU than Ferrari as some experts were in a hurry to claim analyzing those useless open source overlays from the only Q session of the season . If you ask anyone at Ferrari I doubt they would agree with that claim.
This sort of advantage Mercedes has vs even the 2nd fastest car, let alone RBR tells me it is delusional even to dream it could be lost within one year. Who will be next to follow the footsteps of Horner and Mario to leave the team. Max or Wache? Will Max move to Mercedes. These are the only interesting topics for this year, when it comes to Red Bull racing.

If it continues like that at Mercedes then there's absolutely no reason for them to sign Max.

Marketing. Max is Lewis level of marketing. Only Charles is there close. But Lewis and Max are #1 in marketing/sales and that thing alone will bring massive money into Mercedes regardless of the contract Max would get. Speed wise George and Max are probably similar.

[euv2]

I mean Red Bull is super underdeveloped in aero side. The first big aero upgrade package and weight reduction will improve things massively. The engine and the electric side is already superb.

No more Lord Helmut to tell us what upgrades are coming. Mclaren has apparently already brought some weight reduction to the car, so there's some easy time to be made up vs the rest of the top teams.



Race pace with a lot of caveats, Max had to clear a lot of cars but also ran a 2 stop vs top 2. I'd say 0.5s seems about right. Will weight reductions on their own bring them with 0.2s? it would at least make them much more competitive. Hope we get some news about what's coming.

[avantman]

Yeah, Wache was definitely coping with that 0.3s gap prediction for Max. If Max had that much speed, he'd have much better race pace, he was miles behind Mercedes and Ferrari despite them being on longer stints.

chassis aside, which is at very best 3rd best (for now, might become 4th very soon), It doesn’t look to me like RBPT is overall better PU than Ferrari as some experts were in a hurry to claim analyzing those useless open source overlays from the only Q session of the season . If you ask anyone at Ferrari I doubt they would agree with that claim.
This sort of advantage Mercedes has vs even the 2nd fastest car, let alone RBR tells me it is delusional even to dream it could be lost within one year. Who will be next to follow the footsteps of Horner and Mario to leave the team. Max or Wache? Will Max move to Mercedes. These are the only interesting topics for this year, when it comes to Red Bull racing.

If it continues like that at Mercedes then there's absolutely no reason for them to sign Max.

Well, yes, that’s basically exactly what I thought and wrote here just yesterday. But if Russell continues exposing himself like he did today, there’s probably still a reason. Today he was outraced even by. Leclerc. He was barely faster, if any faster at all than Antonelli, although I understand neither of them was trying too hard. There’s also still possibility that Antonelli rather than Russell would be demoted. We are literally in 2014 now and Max is in the same position as Vettel. Time to move on finally.

[lio007]

chassis aside, which is at very best 3rd best (for now, might become 4th very soon), It doesn’t look to me like RBPT is overall better PU than Ferrari as some experts were in a hurry to claim analyzing those useless open source overlays from the only Q session of the season . If you ask anyone at Ferrari I doubt they would agree with that claim.
This sort of advantage Mercedes has vs even the 2nd fastest car, let alone RBR tells me it is delusional even to dream it could be lost within one year. Who will be next to follow the footsteps of Horner and Mario to leave the team. Max or Wache? Will Max move to Mercedes. These are the only interesting topics for this year, when it comes to Red Bull racing.

If it continues like that at Mercedes then there's absolutely no reason for them to sign Max.

I disagree with this. While George may seem a favourite in the team, Wolff has always regarded Max very highly. Why wouldn't you want the fastest driver in the fastest car? Marketing and general endorsements will make it highly lucrative as well.

Even IF Wolff still wants to sign Max at any cost... right now it's more down to Max who considers his future in F1 in general.

[AR3-GP]

Race pace with a lot of caveats, Max had to clear a lot of cars but also ran a 2 stop vs top 2. I'd say 0.5s seems about right. Will weight reductions on their own bring them with 0.2s? it would at least make them much more competitive. Hope we get some news about what's coming.

The weight issue not only effects the dry weight of the car, but also the amount of fuel that they have to carry. Heavier cars has to also carry more fuel. I think getting on top of the weight issue could unlock something like 3-5 tenths.

[avantman]

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