2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

McLaren identifies 'quite smart' Red Bull F1 innovation - Motorsport Week

“I think there will be a stabilisation at some stage, a convergence, but we look like we are quite far from this convergence. So I think there will be a process of looking at each other, testing things, certainly each team will be testing, taking a look at the Red Bull concept, see the advantages.”

“They have also been quite smart and innovative in the way they have used some legality concession to introduce such geometry. I think that the overall design of the car is far from converging.

[organic]

We're back in the game

[Paa]

We're back in the game

At best we will be back by Austria/Silverstone with the next big package. (don't forget Merc/McLaren upgrades in Canada). By that time Max will be easily 100+ points behind, possibly even more.
From that time there will be 2025 again with similar odds. And this is the best case scenario.

To be honest I'm not sure how to feel about this. Current position is a disappointment compared to last few years, but positive after the last few races. Probably I'll just take my 2025 approach and I drop all of my expectations and just be happy for any race that pleasantly surprise.

[AR3-GP]

We're back in the game

At best we will be back by Austria/Silverstone with the next big package. (don't forget Merc/McLaren upgrades in Canada). By that time Max will be easily 100+ points behind, possibly even more.
From that time there will be 2025 again with similar odds. And this is the best case scenario.

To be honest I'm not sure how to feel about this. Current position is a disappointment compared to last few years, but positive after the last few races. Probably I'll just take my 2025 approach and I drop all of my expectations and just be happy for any race that pleasantly surprise.

I think the take home was the used tire performance at the end of the sprint race, the performance on used softs in Q2, and the long stint on the hards in the GP. These are "markers" of the real leap that Red Bull have taken. Miami is close to the hottest track temps of the year. This kind of behavior is the basis for a competitive car.

I don't mind that the others could have more raw speed at this point. They have a weight penalty. Let's see a few more races. Canada should be favorable due to the lack of high speed corners. It feels like the step that Mclaren made in Miami 2024 when they just stopped having tire deg overnight.

[pantherxxx]

We're back in the game

At best we will be back by Austria/Silverstone with the next big package. (don't forget Merc/McLaren upgrades in Canada). By that time Max will be easily 100+ points behind, possibly even more.
From that time there will be 2025 again with similar odds. And this is the best case scenario.

To be honest I'm not sure how to feel about this. Current position is a disappointment compared to last few years, but positive after the last few races. Probably I'll just take my 2025 approach and I drop all of my expectations and just be happy for any race that pleasantly surprise.

In 2025, Verstappen overcame a 100-point deficit in just nine races. This year, he could have even more opportunities to do the same—potentially up to 15 races—if the car becomes a genuine race-winning contender by Austria. Additionally, in 2025, no one really took away points from Norris and Piastri, whereas this season both the McLaren and Mercedes drivers are actively fighting among themselves, which could split points more evenly.

[gearboxtrouble]

A title should not even be on the plan for this year. If they can win a race as a completely new engine manufacturer that's already the best performance from a new engine supplier in modern F1. I think that's a realistic goal and would be enough to show the team can contend for the title in 2027.

[Cassius]

We're back in the game

At best we will be back by Austria/Silverstone with the next big package. (don't forget Merc/McLaren upgrades in Canada). By that time Max will be easily 100+ points behind, possibly even more.
From that time there will be 2025 again with similar odds. And this is the best case scenario.

To be honest I'm not sure how to feel about this. Current position is a disappointment compared to last few years, but positive after the last few races. Probably I'll just take my 2025 approach and I drop all of my expectations and just be happy for any race that pleasantly surprise.

In 2025, Verstappen overcame a 100-point deficit in just nine races. This year, he could have even more opportunities to do the same—potentially up to 15 races—if the car becomes a genuine race-winning contender by Austria. Additionally, in 2025, no one really took away points from Norris and Piastri, whereas this season both the McLaren and Mercedes drivers are actively fighting among themselves, which could split points more evenly.

It is just not realistic. Merc and McL are moving targets. Rumour is that the Merc Canada upgrade is worth 0.5s. This means they are still 0.7-0.9s behind based on sprint medium lap comparison in free air and assumptions based on main race.

The Austrian upgrade will not deliver this amount and Merc will continue to develop as well.

[Rikhart]

Probably someone already mentioned this, but in Miami they came out of the gates with a pretty decent setup, even on a sprint weekend. Quite positive.

[AR3-GP]

Red Bull focuses on promoting talent within its own team, but does not shy away from bringing in people from other teams either. "We feel we have the best talent already, department by department, and that starts with Ben [Hodgkinson] on the power unit side for his team, and with Pierre [Wache] on the chassis side and his team. And under them, we feel we have the best talent," Mekies explained to GPblog among others.
He added: "When we can, we will always try to see how we can promote [employees] internally. We have created a number of talents over the last few years and we are proud of that. We want to continue. If and when we need to go and get a specific set of skills or experience from some of our dear competitors around the pit lane, we will do it.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/red-bull ... ey-figures

[AR3-GP]

I was going to post this earlier, because something struck me about the way that Verstappen was driving in Miami. The braking. He's braked so late that it was Monday. It wasn't just one time, it was every single chance he got. We didn't see this in Australia, China, or Japan. Braking seems to be a strong point, suddenly, where it was not before. He was coming from miles back. It looked like everyone else was braking early. It reminded me of the SF24.

During the race, perhaps the strongest point of the current RB22 also emerged: "I didn't expect to say this when we went to Miami, but this was the best racing I've seen this season. Some of the overtakes Max did seemed really bold and brave."

"One thing I've noticed about that car on the track this week is how strong it is on the brakes. Max seemed to be able to brake later than anyone else all weekend. And he just got the car stopped in time."

https://racingnews365.nl/voormalig-red- ... -bull-auto


I think it has something to do with that new rear wing, among other things.

[erikejw]

Impressing the board is the wrong focus, though you are probably right.

The Mintzlaff era with his chosen leaders is unfortunately a catastrophic failure.

Our worst season start the last 10 years.
Average points after 4 races has been slightly above 90, now we have 30.

We had 89 points last year, which was deemed a very weak start. Points don't lie.

We are officially performing like a midfield team, barely ahead of Alpine and Haas.

I've followed Red Bull since the Jaguar days and it's sad how quickly Mintzlaff dismantled Red Bull and made them a backmarker.

RIP old Red Bull. The new version is just a bleak shadow of the former powerhouse.

EvH never tells a lie. Skinner was fired.

Power split is moved to 60:40 next year. VER has no excuse not to continue.

Sounds like Austria updates will be an attempt by engineering to impress the board and for Mintzlaff and Mekies to extend the Verstappen contract.

[AR3-GP]

Impressing the board is the wrong focus, though you are probably right.

The Mintzlaff era with his chosen leaders is unfortunately a catastrophic failure.

Our worst season start the last 10 years.
Average points after 4 races has been slightly above 90, now we have 30.

We are officially performing like a midfield team, barely ahead of Alpine and Haas.

I've followed Red Bull since the Jaguar days and it's sad how quickly Mintzlaff dismantled Red Bull and made them a backmarker.

RIP old Red Bull. The new version is just a bleak shadow of the former powerhouse.

They developed later than Ferrari and Mercedes in 2025 and they launched their very first PU. Car was overweight starting the year. After the 4th GP, things look in better shape. Verstappen qualified P2 for the GP. Verstappen said that he sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Silent Storm]

I was going to post this earlier, because something struck me about the way that Verstappen was driving in Miami. The braking. He's braked so late that it was Monday. It wasn't just one time, it was every single chance he got. We didn't see this in Australia, China, or Japan. Braking seems to be a strong point, suddenly, where it was not before. He was coming from miles back. It looked like everyone else was braking early. It reminded me of the SF24.

During the race, perhaps the strongest point of the current RB22 also emerged: "I didn't expect to say this when we went to Miami, but this was the best racing I've seen this season. Some of the overtakes Max did seemed really bold and brave."

"One thing I've noticed about that car on the track this week is how strong it is on the brakes. Max seemed to be able to brake later than anyone else all weekend. And he just got the car stopped in time."

https://racingnews365.nl/voormalig-red- ... -bull-auto


I think it has something to do with that new rear wing, among other things.

I agree and it has characteristics similar to 2024 Ferrari now, really good in low speed, mechanical grip, tyre deg and top speed. Similarly loses out on high speed stuff but it doesn't matter much in this regulation.

Check out onboard lap when Charles overtakes Max, Max was able to brake later than Charles who was on relatively fresh rubber. Charles in the end was able to carry more speed into the corner but that's down to old vs new rubber.

Max still complained about understeer into turn 8 but doesn't look chronic understeer, given this was a sprint weekend with new package it could be setup related.

[tinuva]

I was going to post this earlier, because something struck me about the way that Verstappen was driving in Miami. The braking. He's braked so late that it was Monday. It wasn't just one time, it was every single chance he got. We didn't see this in Australia, China, or Japan. Braking seems to be a strong point, suddenly, where it was not before. He was coming from miles back. It looked like everyone else was braking early. It reminded me of the SF24.

During the race, perhaps the strongest point of the current RB22 also emerged: "I didn't expect to say this when we went to Miami, but this was the best racing I've seen this season. Some of the overtakes Max did seemed really bold and brave."

"One thing I've noticed about that car on the track this week is how strong it is on the brakes. Max seemed to be able to brake later than anyone else all weekend. And he just got the car stopped in time."

https://racingnews365.nl/voormalig-red- ... -bull-auto


I think it has something to do with that new rear wing, among other things.

Maybe an effect of the new front suspension? Max mentioned he could trust the car more to do what he wants. Sounds like this could be what he meant.

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

[venkyhere]

I was going to post this earlier, because something struck me about the way that Verstappen was driving in Miami. The braking. He's braked so late that it was Monday. It wasn't just one time, it was every single chance he got. We didn't see this in Australia, China, or Japan. Braking seems to be a strong point, suddenly, where it was not before. He was coming from miles back. It looked like everyone else was braking early. It reminded me of the SF24.

During the race, perhaps the strongest point of the current RB22 also emerged: "I didn't expect to say this when we went to Miami, but this was the best racing I've seen this season. Some of the overtakes Max did seemed really bold and brave."

"One thing I've noticed about that car on the track this week is how strong it is on the brakes. Max seemed to be able to brake later than anyone else all weekend. And he just got the car stopped in time."

https://racingnews365.nl/voormalig-red- ... -bull-auto


I think it has something to do with that new rear wing, among other things.

Maybe an effect of the new front suspension? Max mentioned he could trust the car more to do what he wants. Sounds like this could be what he meant.

Sent from my Pixel 8 using Tapatalk

macarena air brake. When the wing goes back to normal, it acts like a sail for atleast 100 degrees duration. This allows for B pedal to be pressed fractions of second later than others.