2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[euv2]

https://postimg.cc/sQxzSCnF

The car didn't look bad at all to be honest, the cornering speeds were very competitive, besides the terrible 8-9 chicane. Max seemed to struggle to get the power down out of t7 and t14 too, which checks out with his complaint.

I think all of the top 4 teams left time on the table today due to the short free practice. We will get a better picture tomorrow (if teams make the right changes).

Yes, but a couple of weekends ago even getting a single sector faster than Mercedes was impossible, they've closed down the gap a lot. Still think RBR have the most to improve come main qualy, but everyone will get a couple of tenths faster too.

[AR3-GP]

“We saw a direction to go in, but putting the tyre where we want it to be was quite difficult. Sprint qualifying didn't go as we had hoped. We had an issue with Max where car performance deteriorated as the session went on, so we need to understand that.

“I think we had more performance available to us, but we just weren't able to extract it today.”

[AR3-GP]

He only gained half a second between the best lap of SQ1 on mediums and the best lap of SQ3 on softs. He also went backwards in SQ2 after which he reported the ride issue. The Mercs, Mclarens, Ferrari, Lindblad and Hadjar all gained 1 second from SQ1 to SQ3 which is coming from softer tires and track evolution. So I think the suspension has deteriorated somehow (excessive heat?), as VER said in the radio and corroborated by Wache. I feel like it was possible to be within 1 tenth of the sprint pole (but keeping in mind Merc probably still has 1-2 tenths up their sleeve according to Toto). This would fit the picture of Miami qualifying since Mclaren and Ferrari are effectively in Miami trim.

I would predict around 2 tenths off the Mercedes in the main qualifying tomorrow.

[Badger]

Feels like if the balance they started quali with had remained they could have gotten down towards the low 1:13s, right behind Merc. The gap is actually not that bad under the circumstances, Mercedes and McLaren brought significant upgrades.

[organic]

Max said he couldn't power out of the corners because his feet were bouncing off the pedals. Crazy!

[Vettel165]

It will rain for the whole day on the sunday. Could suit Max.

https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-tab ... l/Montreal

[Emag]

First time we see these cars in the rain. I think we are in for a lot of chaos with how bursty the power delivery is with these engines.

[AR3-GP]

Red Bull feel they are more than 2% behind on the PU.

When Motorsport.com asked Laurent Mekies how closely he has followed all comments surrounding the Red Bull power unit and ADUO, the team boss laughed: “So, now you’re asking us to enter into the game? No, seriously, the way we look at it, I can only give you what we think is a pecking order. Do whatever you like with it.”

That said, Mekies does not place Red Bull's ICE at the top of the team's own power unit pecking order.

“Now, the next second, you look at your gap to the best competition. And today we think the pecking order is Mercedes, in terms of the powertrain, ahead of the field. And that means eight cars, so it is very significant,” Mekies explained.

“We think behind them there is a group where we see us, Ferrari, Audi — don’t ask me to quote the numbers because it will be gaming — but we certainly see a consistent gap compared to the Mercedes-Benz-powered cars.”

Red Bull believes the gap to Mercedes is greater than 2%, which would mean that the entire group Mekies refers to would qualify for ADUO.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/who-q ... /10823272/

[Badger]

Well of course he would “feel” that way, whether it’s true I’m not certain. I think it may be touch and go on that 2% number for RBPT. Neither ADUO outcome would surprise me.

[Paa]

Red Bull believes the gap to Mercedes is greater than 2%, which would mean that the entire group Mekies refers to would qualify for ADUO.

This was my intuition about why are they still on their 1st PU. I think they already have an updated engine prepared which they want to introduce soon after they qualify for ADUO. Probably they can still do Monaco with the old one, but then after that they could introduce a new version. Then the 1st engine can be used for FP sessions.
No source, this is just my impression.

[Emag]

The deficit, power-wise, is way more obvious on the Ferrari compared to RedBull. How much of that is car/drag related, I don't know. But from an outside perspective I would say RBPT is more powerful than Ferrari at the moment.

[AR3-GP]

Well of course he would “feel” that way, whether it’s true I’m not certain. I think it may be touch and go on that 2% number for RBPT. Neither ADUO outcome would surprise me.

There could be some politics involved, of course, and they obviously want ADUO benefit, so that's the party line.

The sport is drifting off course. It started with the sliding scale aero resources and then became a joke with the ADUO system and now the teams are just going to game the system.

Red Bull with 4th place aero resources (+15%), ADUO credits, and the new windtunnel would be in a strong position ahead of 2027.

[Valeo]

First decent getaway of the season.
Pace not good though...

Edit: ah engine gone for Hadjar
- or not

[AR3-GP]

First decent getaway of the season.
Pace not good though...

Its pretty bad

[Valeo]

Hm big drop off at the end.
Tyres or issues?