2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

Also, this guy is saying Max needs to take a tight line approach to corners to conserve tyres and help with energy with these low downforce cars, especially in China in corner 1.He says Max puts more load into the tyres than the car can take due to the lack of downforce.



Now, Max is adaptable. He won in both categories of kart, driving different styles (Long corners vs Tight corners) every other week. https://forums.kartpulse.com/t/kz-drivi ... e-pic/4474

He can drive and win in multiple car series.

So, does he need to adapt to this, for these types of cars?

If he hasn't done it yet, is it just a frustration thing with these new cars as Martin says, taking a tight line doesn't feel like your "on the limit...it doesn't feel natural or by feel"

Some context. This Martin fellow is a longtime Max critic (and Hamilton fan, go figure...). He's done several think pieces about how Max is really just doing everything all wrong. Either ragebaiting for views or he genuinely believes what he post.

What is shown in the video is that Verstappen takes a wider line than the VCARB in front of him so that he can stay out of the dirty air. This guy claims that Max is damaging his tires by doing that. His claim (like many prior) is wrong. The channel just isn't credible.

[Dee]

Also, this guy is saying Max needs to take a tight line approach to corners to conserve tyres and help with energy with these low downforce cars, especially in China in corner 1.He says Max puts more load into the tyres than the car can take due to the lack of downforce.



Now, Max is adaptable. He won in both categories of kart, driving different styles (Long corners vs Tight corners) every other week. https://forums.kartpulse.com/t/kz-drivi ... e-pic/4474

He can drive and win in multiple car series.

So, does he need to adapt to this, for these types of cars?

If he hasn't done it yet, is it just a frustration thing with these new cars as Martin says, taking a tight line doesn't feel like your "on the limit...it doesn't feel natural or by feel"

Some context. This Martin fellow is a longtime Max critic (and Hamilton fan, go figure...). He's done several think pieces about how Max is really just doing everything all wrong. Either ragebaiting for views or he genuinely believes what he post.

What is shown in the video is that Verstappen takes a wider line than the VCARB in front of him so that he can stay out of the dirty air and this guy claims that Max is actually damaging his tires by doing that. There's no reason to spend time on any video from this channel.

I know that he is a Max critic but he has done some great pieces on Max as well. The first example of Max that Martin uses is at 1.46 when Max has no traffic in front of him and still uses the long line on the corner.

The example of Lawson actually has traffic in front of him and still uses that tighter technique and he had a great race, especially with his tyres..

[AR3-GP]

Also, this guy is saying Max needs to take a tight line approach to corners to conserve tyres and help with energy with these low downforce cars, especially in China in corner 1.He says Max puts more load into the tyres than the car can take due to the lack of downforce.



Now, Max is adaptable. He won in both categories of kart, driving different styles (Long corners vs Tight corners) every other week. https://forums.kartpulse.com/t/kz-drivi ... e-pic/4474

He can drive and win in multiple car series.

So, does he need to adapt to this, for these types of cars?

If he hasn't done it yet, is it just a frustration thing with these new cars as Martin says, taking a tight line doesn't feel like your "on the limit...it doesn't feel natural or by feel"

Some context. This Martin fellow is a longtime Max critic (and Hamilton fan, go figure...). He's done several think pieces about how Max is really just doing everything all wrong. Either ragebaiting for views or he genuinely believes what he post.

What is shown in the video is that Verstappen takes a wider line than the VCARB in front of him so that he can stay out of the dirty air and this guy claims that Max is actually damaging his tires by doing that. There's no reason to spend time on any video from this channel.

I know that he is a Max critic but he has done some great pieces on Max as well. The first example of Max that Martin uses is at 1.46 when Max has no traffic in front of him and still uses the long line on the corner.

The example of Lawson actually has traffic in front of him and still uses that tighter technique and he had a great race, especially with his tyres..

Lawson isn't driving an overweight car. Ask yourself why this guy spend 12 minutes of a 28 minute video discussing a driver who did not finish the race? There's no value in his discussion. It is only an agenda like his many previous videos.

[Dee]

Some context. This Martin fellow is a longtime Max critic (and Hamilton fan, go figure...). He's done several think pieces about how Max is really just doing everything all wrong. Either ragebaiting for views or he genuinely believes what he post.

What is shown in the video is that Verstappen takes a wider line than the VCARB in front of him so that he can stay out of the dirty air and this guy claims that Max is actually damaging his tires by doing that. There's no reason to spend time on any video from this channel.

I know that he is a Max critic but he has done some great pieces on Max as well. The first example of Max that Martin uses is at 1.46 when Max has no traffic in front of him and still uses the long line on the corner.

The example of Lawson actually has traffic in front of him and still uses that tighter technique and he had a great race, especially with his tyres..

Lawson isn't driving an overweight car. Ask yourself why this guy spend 12 minutes of a 28 minute video discussing a driver who did not finish the race? There's no value in his discussion. It is only an agenda like his many previous videos.

Your first answer gave the impression that the only reason why Max was not taking the tighter line was due to avoiding the dirty air, not that Max was doing it due to understeer from having an overweight car..

Lewis was using tighter lines all race, Charles wasn't and Lewis ended up having the better tyre life.

So I don't think Martin is that wrong with his concept, with these cars.

And Martin wouldn't have known that Max's car was overweight when he made the video so he wasn't being disingenuous with his observation and analysis. That info just came out yesterday.

[AR3-GP]

Your first answer gave the impression that the only reason why Max was not taking the tighter line was due to avoiding the dirty air, not that Max was doing it due to understeer from having an overweight car..

Lewis was using tighter lines all race, Charles wasn't and Lewis ended up having the better tyre life.

So I don't think Martin is that wrong with his concept, with these cars.

How can a guy who has never driven the SF26, the RB22, or any other f1 car give an explanation on how each car should be driven? There is not enough evidence to explain anything here.

[f1isgood]

I know that he is a Max critic but he has done some great pieces on Max as well. The first example of Max that Martin uses is at 1.46 when Max has no traffic in front of him and still uses the long line on the corner.

The example of Lawson actually has traffic in front of him and still uses that tighter technique and he had a great race, especially with his tyres..

Lawson isn't driving an overweight car. Ask yourself why this guy spend 12 minutes of a 28 minute video discussing a driver who did not finish the race? There's no value in his discussion. It is only an agenda like his many previous videos.

Your first answer gave the impression that the only reason why Max was not taking the tighter line was due to avoiding the dirty air, not that Max was doing it due to understeer from having an overweight car..

Lewis was using tighter lines all race, Charles wasn't and Lewis ended up having the better tyre life.

So I don't think Martin is that wrong with his concept, with these cars.

And Martin wouldn't have known that Max's car was overweight when he made the video so he wasn't being disingenuous with his observation and analysis. That info just came out yesterday.

The Red Bull being overweight is a well known fact guys. It's known since pre season. If you want to make money from content creation you have to drop ragebait from time to time. At the same time if you want to only ragebait you will lose all credibility. So from time to time you have to pretend to be neutral.

Rinse and repeat.

That said, Verstappen is not going to find 1 second from his driving alone. In that regard this video is pointless especially at this part of the season where the car is just useless.

[erikejw]

It seems the top 4 teams and especially Red Bull are more over weight than the rest of the cars.

Why do they have more weight problems?

What systems do they use that are heavier than the slower teams(I assume this is the reason)?

[organic]

It seems the top 4 teams and especially Red Bull are more over weight than the rest of the cars.

Why do they have more weight problems?

What systems do they use that are heavier than the slower teams(I assume this is the reason)?

I think rather than specific systems it's more to do with design philosophy difference.

For midfield teams, the start of a reg set is particularly important for midfield teams to be competitive early due to bathtub shaped failure rate. It's guaranteed laptime for teams with less sophisticated tools/simulations.

Top teams on the other hand are going to have a very different priority list, more geared towards building a car that is flexible and can be adapted towards fruitful development paths. They care more about long-term viability, building for success rather than short-term gains, and finding the right development path.

There are also other ways in which top teams may be less risk-taking than more midfield teams in the sense that - see saubers weight saving approach in 2022 which also cost them to lose tons of preseason running and a high retirement rate but paid dividends - but this strategy doesn't have nearly as much merit if you're fighting for top WCC positions.

My last point is a long one but maybe the strongest. At the extremes of the grid the laptime differences are larger and in the midfield the gaps are small:
- In the podium battle I think McLaren and red bull knew they weren't going to be winning races from the very start. We know this to be true based on what they said in preseason.
- It's very logical therefore that they are the two teams who've turned up further from the weight limit than Ferrari/Merc.
- Even if red bull were 10kg lighter (and assuming Max is able to start without an empty battery) he'd only be cruising ahead of the McLaren rather than fighting them. It wouldn't be enough to trouble Ferrari/merc. - Let's say that 10kg lighter gives red bull good margin over McLaren and on average you finish always ahead of them rather than sometimes behind 1 or 2 McLaren's. So it could be worth 3 points. Even assuming you never improve your weight problem, across a season that could amount to 75 pts and is not earth shattering for top 4 WCC teams who will earn hundreds of points.
- Conversely, in the midfield the same 10kg extra mass could take you from earning 8 points per race to a regular 0 (with an expected season tally going from ~200 to ~10)

Lots of reasons

[Vettel165]

I fully expect Red Bull to fight at least with Ferrari when they fix this weight problem. Mercedes is out of reach, but you never know in f1? Its a long season, they have a good engine. Now fix the chassis and Red Bull will be back with a bang, mark my words.

[AR3-GP]

This is one of the most challenging things about bringing the weight down:

"So you have to plan it based on when these components reach the end of their life and when we introduce updates later in the season. It's a complexity, but it's a good one. The Cost Cup remains, however, very positive overall," Vowles continued.

https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-wi ... /10803876/

You either use the parts and spares that you already spent money on until the end of their life (5-6 races), or you write off everything that was already produced, to bring it sooner. It affects the cost cap when you write off parts before they have reached the end of their service life. That includes the monocoque. So they will tend to only lower the weight when they have already scheduled other performance updates.

In 2022, Marko said they shed 8kg with the Imola update. This was the 4th round of 2022. I bet they could drop 10kg with an updated car in Miami and the rest with a lightweight monocoque after the summer break.

[Sergej]

I fully expect Red Bull to fight at least with Ferrari when they fix this weight problem. Mercedes is out of reach, but you never know in f1? Its a long season, they have a good engine. Now fix the chassis and Red Bull will be back with a bang, mark my words.

Be cautious with what you expect, Ferrari is due to bring a very large update in Miami (plus their super duper Macarena wing), they won't stand still.

[venkyhere]

Amazing analysis from evervone here in the last day. You gave me a whole new hope if what about the weight really is true. Then it will worth the wait, as when the chunk will get slimmer a lot of whole new perfomance will come. The team has some luck as well, they will have 33 days to address the issue after Suzuka and come back stronger. Never stop believing. Imagine a car near its optimal weight will have much more stable balance, unpredicted understeer or oversteer will be probably gone as well, much better tyre wear. And also more speed on the straights. It could be worth a second per lap.

Dont jump on the hope bandwagon so soon. If the extra kilos are coming from the PU, it's going to be super difficult to shed the extra (17 ? 19 with the extra fuel to compensate ? all numbers flying) let's say 20kg, which is 2.6% of 768kg, the min quali (neglecting fuel weight for quali) weight including driver.
That straightaway means 2.6% quicker acceleration/deceleration. Achieving this will be transform the car, however 'where is the extra weight' matters.

[Vettel165]

Well hope is all I have left…

[Badger]

Amazing analysis from evervone here in the last day. You gave me a whole new hope if what about the weight really is true. Then it will worth the wait, as when the chunk will get slimmer a lot of whole new perfomance will come. The team has some luck as well, they will have 33 days to address the issue after Suzuka and come back stronger. Never stop believing. Imagine a car near its optimal weight will have much more stable balance, unpredicted understeer or oversteer will be probably gone as well, much better tyre wear. And also more speed on the straights. It could be worth a second per lap.

Dont jump on the hope bandwagon so soon. If the extra kilos are coming from the PU, it's going to be super difficult to shed the extra (17 ? 19 with the extra fuel to compensate ? all numbers flying) let's say 20kg, which is 2.6% of 768kg, the min quali (neglecting fuel weight for quali) weight including driver.
That straightaway means 2.6% quicker acceleration/deceleration. Achieving this will be transform the car, however 'where is the extra weight' matters.

The weight is obviously in the chassis.