2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[gearboxtrouble]

Mekies said 3 of the 5 areas that they identified in the launch spec car have been corrected. There is a rumor about a suspension update for Canada. The final issue is probably the rest of the weight.

Do we know what were the 3 areas that have been corrected?

Also I wonder how they rate their engine and deployment etc. Merc seems to be ahead, but it is hard to estimate the magnitude.

I think the engine isn't an issue at all - they seemed to be able to monster the Ferrari engined cars down the straights and they didn't seem to be that different to the Mercedes engined cars around Miami. I know Meikes likes to throw out the 2-3 tenth stat but from all the telemetry I've seen so far the engine is extremely close to Mercedes - certainly more in line with the media claims of a 7-9hp deficit. There's definitely some work to be done on drivability and calibration (the starts for example) but I doubt they will be allowed any hardware upgrades until 2027.

[f1isgood]

Mekies said 3 of the 5 areas that they identified in the launch spec car have been corrected. There is a rumor about a suspension update for Canada. The final issue is probably the rest of the weight.

Do we know what were the 3 areas that have been corrected?

Also I wonder how they rate their engine and deployment etc. Merc seems to be ahead, but it is hard to estimate the magnitude.

I think the engine isn't an issue at all - they seemed to be able to monster the Ferrari engined cars down the straights and they didn't seem to be that different to the Mercedes engined cars around Miami. I know Meikes likes to throw out the 2-3 tenth stat but from all the telemetry I've seen so far the engine is extremely close to Mercedes - certainly more in line with the media claims of a 7-9hp deficit. There's definitely some work to be done on drivability and calibration (the starts for example) but I doubt they will be allowed any hardware upgrades until 2027.

Bro you don't need to repeat the same thing like a parrot.

[TNTHead]

Really promising to see how the car is much more raceable now. Incidentful race for both cars, Max was good off the line but his first lap...that was not good.

Regarding engine power: hard to determine since drag levels will be quite different among the teams.
I wonder how much extra deployment comes from the flipflop wing, because of drag reduction. Does anyone has statistics of the speed differential with coventional drs vs new rearwing?

[FNTC]

5s for max on pit exit... But I guess he keeps the position due to Leclercs 20s.

[Gillian]

Really promising to see how the car is much more raceable now. Incidentful race for both cars, Max was good off the line but his first lap...that was not good.

Regarding engine power: hard to determine since drag levels will be quite different among the teams.
I wonder how much extra deployment comes from the flipflop wing, because of drag reduction. Does anyone has statistics of the speed differential with coventional drs vs new rearwing?

That first lap was the worst performance I have seen from Verstappen in many years. The spin can happen (and saved it, well done), but he went a bit overboard after that. I see why they pitted him because his tires where trashed and it probably helped him reset his brain.

Besides that it was a fantastic weekend. I dare say Verstappen is a title contender. Just hope this upgrade was not an one-off, but they can keep progressing.

[basti313]

That first lap was the worst performance I have seen from Verstappen in many years. The spin can happen (and saved it, well done), but he went a bit overboard after that.

??? What do you mean with "overbaord". His tires were surely cooking after the spin, so he had to deal with the swimming car on a aggressive first lap.

I would rather criticize, that both errors, the spin and the crossing of the line, are errors that usually do not and should not happen to him. Also the start was not good....getting to a point where you need to question why always the same drivers have bad starts (e.g. Russel had again a better start than Ant).
I am starting to think that these errors are not normal but have something to do with concentration.

Besides that it was a fantastic weekend. I dare say Verstappen is a title contender. Just hope this upgrade was not an one-off, but they can keep progressing.

Come on...

[FW17]

wow MV lost 45 seconds in 30 laps

[Cassius]

wow MV lost 45 seconds in 30 laps

Are you surprised? He lost 10s due to defending, so a bit more than a second per lap on 20 laps older tyres.

As Mekies has said, engine is a few tenths slower than the Merc, weight is a few tenths more. I guess they are overall half a second slower than the top 2 teams, both of which will get massive upgrades in Canada.

They seemed faster than Ferrari which is impressive.

Would be good for next year if they can close the gap towards the end of the season.

[basti313]

wow MV lost 45 seconds in 30 laps

I also think this is consistent with tire age and race situation towards about half a second to a second real speed.

As Mekies has said, engine is a few tenths slower than the Merc

Well, a few more tenths I would say...

We see the following:
- Merc powered teams ruling the midfield. Even clumsy and overweight Williams is now topping the midfield with Alpine.
- RB simply nowhere. Lin driving a normal race...but there is simply no pace at all.

As soon as the Merc powered teams get their $hit together, they are up to half a second faster than the comparison.
I simply do not see room or real world indications to praise the "Ford" engine. We can just trust Toto on this.

They seemed faster than Ferrari which is impressive.

Hmmm...rather shocking. Let us be honest...RedBull is not anywhere in contention. Ferrari doing Ferrari things ruins the chance to have winners outside the Merc bubble.

Would be good for next year if they can close the gap towards the end of the season.

I do not see anyone closing the engine gap.

[euv2]

Think the PU deficit was clearly on show for the race, the Mercedes PU teams have much more deployment throughout the lap than RBR and FER. It was a trend through the race. This was lap 39. The cornering performance of RB22 was not bad at all considering the tire deficit.

[avantman]

Really promising to see how the car is much more raceable now. Incidentful race for both cars, Max was good off the line but his first lap...that was not good.

Regarding engine power: hard to determine since drag levels will be quite different among the teams.
I wonder how much extra deployment comes from the flipflop wing, because of drag reduction. Does anyone has statistics of the speed differential with coventional drs vs new rearwing?

That first lap was the worst performance I have seen from Verstappen in many years. The spin can happen (and saved it, well done), but he went a bit overboard after that. I see why they pitted him because his tires where trashed and it probably helped him reset his brain.

Besides that it was a fantastic weekend. I dare say Verstappen is a title contender. Just hope this upgrade was not an one-off, but they can keep progressing.

If his tires were trashed as you say, then how could he be capable of lapping faster than Norris and Antonelli? Makes no sense. Tires were fine.. that early pit stop was another gamble which could only work if it started to rain hard at convenient moment. Another big eff up from Ms. Schmitz that nobody is talking about. As always she only gets praise, never gets criticized for clearly poor calls.
That strategy would make sense only if they had another set of medium, which would give them an option to put Max on faster tire in the end.

[Cassius]

https://postimg.cc/Z0gGwnRx

Think the PU deficit was clearly on show for the race, the Mercedes PU teams have much more deployment throughout the lap than RBR and FER. It was a trend through the race. This was lap 39. The cornering performance of RB22 was not bad at all considering the tire deficit.

This doesn't look like more than 3 tenths. Also, Norris had overtake mode vs Antonelli on this lap, so had more deployment anyway.

[Cassius]

Would be good for next year if they can close the gap towards the end of the season.

I do not see anyone closing the engine gap.

I mean the chassis gap which could be 0.5s+ again after the McL and Merc Canada upgrades and even more as soon as they will introduce their own version of the macarena rear wing.

If they can close this gap before the end of the season and have a good performance update on their 2027 engine, they could aim for the championship.

[organic]

Mekies said 3 of the 5 areas that they identified in the launch spec car have been corrected. There is a rumor about a suspension update for Canada. The final issue is probably the rest of the weight.

That is such a funny thing for the TP to say lol

Where does the rumour of a suspension upgrade for Canada originate? I've seen multiple people discussing it online

The rest of the weight comes off at Silverstone right?

1. Sidepod
2. Floor/bib
3. Rear wing efficiency
4. Suspension (?)
5. Rest of the weight

Honestly I think both front and rear suspension could currently be problem areas

[Cassius]

My guess would be the the following 5:

- Starts & other engine gremlins (not fully solved yet, although progress made, maybe counted as solved?)
- (cooling) efficiency (solved - less louvres / smaller rear exit,new macarena rear wing, sidepod, Japan floor?)
- balance in yaw (probably due to insufficient out-wash to ingress of rear wheel wake into diffuser) (solved via new sidepod, but also front wing?)
- weight (not yet solved)
- low speed mechanical grip (partly solved, maybe new suspension will follow if that is the rumour)