2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Vettel165]

Tomorrow the gap will go down from 1.7s to 1.0-1.2s maybe. And thats about it, in qualy maybe p6,p7 will be the maximum result.

[pantherxxx]

I mean, Williams is overweight like Red Bull, and they’re about one second slower than Alpine. Once Red Bull fixes their weight issue, it could solve several problems, such as balance issues, tire management, energy recovery, and many other things. As Vowles said, because these rules are so complex, being 10 kg overweight doesn’t just cost 0.3 seconds—it can cost a lot more than that. I expect that when Red Bull fully fixes and understands their car, they will be capable of getting podiums, although wins this season are still uncertain. Things aren't looking good right now, but there is a glimmer of hope. Verstappen had a great start in Australia; in the first stint, he was barely any slower than the front-runners, so the car definitely has potential,

[Paa]

I mean, Williams is overweight like Red Bull, and they’re about one second slower than Alpine. Once Red Bull fixes their weight issue, it could solve several problems, such as balance issues, tire management, energy recovery, and many other things. As Vowles said, because these rules are so complex, being 10 kg overweight doesn’t just cost 0.3 seconds—it can cost a lot more than that. I expect that when Red Bull fully fixes and understands their car, they will be capable of getting podiums, although wins this season are still uncertain. Things aren't looking good right now, but there is a glimmer of hope. Verstappen had a great start in Australia; in the first stint, he was barely any slower than the front-runners, so the car definitely has potential,

We don't have too much information about the weight so we are all guessing, but I don't think the effect is that much.
Obviously these are kind of random numbers, but my feeling is that Williams can be like 20kg+ above, Red Bull maybe 5-10kg, and some other top teams like McLaren maybe 3-5kg or so.

So of course the effect is big if you look at Williams vs Alpine. But I doubt there is too much to gain in relation to Red Bull vs McLaren with weight. Couple of tenths at most.

[f1isgood]

The chassis is probably their worst since 2015. They're insanely slow.

Mercedes' chassis is light years ahead. I am personally surprised that they're that good on the chassis side.

Looks like Red Bull lack everything now. Poor chassis, operationally suspect.

You really cannot convince me that the Monza floor would come at the cost of such a hit to 2026 development. To a certain degree the narrative that was sold and one that I bought was that they had correlation issues etc.

But if that meant shelving the 26 project to this degree it was absolutely an ill informed move and one that Horner was responsible for.

The 2026 car appears fundamentally broken. Serious questions need to be asked. We don't need a pattern for this year.

[Wouter]

Isack Hadjar’s Oracle Red Bull Racing Debut! | Behind The Charge

[f1isgood]

Makes sense as medium corners was also where the struggle was against Mclaren the last two years.
I would insist the problem is not medium speed per se but the type of corner (long radius medium speed), like Budapest which was also a nightmare.

On the contrary it makes no sense

One would assume that since we are in an entirely new aerodynamic regulation cycle, the inherent issues that remained when it came to achieving the right balance must no longer exist xD.

[Sieper]

All is different. All. Too different actually. These weirdo cars, how they go through corners, the electro pace, and non pace.

[lio007]

Calm down. We have been warned about it last year! Erratic decisions won't change anything. Research and patience is needed now.

[f1isgood]

Calm down. We have been warned about it last year! Erratic decisions won't change anything. Research and patience is needed now.

What were we warned about? That they will actually be 1.7s a lap slower?

[upsidedowntoast]

How was Russell ? "Red Bull has 1s over the straights"

"But why do we have so much criticism of George, he has no fault, poor lad"

I mean that was probably Merc trolling after Red Bull (allegedly) flipped on them in the compression ratio saga.

Still, that was in reference to deployment/harvesting which is a PU thing, whereas the current problems seem almost entirely setup/balance related. If they can just figure that out they'll be back to fighting with Mclaren.

Expecting the RBPT PU to 'match' the illegal mercedes PU is a big ask.

Didn't Red Bull also have the compression ratio trick, just not as good as Mercedes?

[Vettel165]

2 races are cancelled, Red Bull will have one month to strike back after Japan with updates. It will be like a summer break, but this time its a spring break.

[Paa]

2 races are cancelled, Red Bull will have one month to strike back after Japan with updates. It will be like a summer break, but this time its a spring break.

What should be the realistic goal after the spring break?
I'll wait for the (main) race, but if the gap is still 1s+ after Sunday, then anything that would make me satisfied will be realistically out of reach.

Maybe they can fight with McLaren for P3, or reach Ferrari by end of the year could be a goal, but it is just said to see a driver like Max in his best years in a tractor.

[dia6olo]

The chassis is probably their worst since 2015. They're insanely slow.

Mercedes' chassis is light years ahead. I am personally surprised that they're that good on the chassis side.

Looks like Red Bull lack everything now. Poor chassis, operationally suspect.

You really cannot convince me that the Monza floor would come at the cost of such a hit to 2026 development. To a certain degree the narrative that was sold and one that I bought was that they had correlation issues etc.

But if that meant shelving the 26 project to this degree it was absolutely an ill informed move and one that Horner was responsible for.

The 2026 car appears fundamentally broken. Serious questions need to be asked. We don't need a pattern for this year.

I’m not that convinced with Mercede’s chassis, personally I have always felt their chassis’s over their dominant years were flattered by their PU & I’m not convinced we are not seeing the same thing now.

Currently I’d say Ferrari have the best chassis but are being let down by their PU.

With all of that said, I would say that RBR have pretty much always been the benchmark when it comes to chassis over the past maybe 15 years or so, it’s definitely surprising to see them struggling as much as they are.

[Sergej]

nice disaster

[pantherxxx]

Verstappen is still getting the maximum out of the car, despite disliking these regulations. Nice overtake against Hadjar.