2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[lio007]

I think McLaren's case was more of a refurbishment rather than a completely new one, don't quote me on that though. Thanks a lot for all the info.

That's correct, the test section was obviously new, but the rest was re-used.

Everything within the test section is brand new, but much of the external steelwork structure has been retained in addition to the main fan, which generates the airflow as part of a closed loop.

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/formula- ... nd-tunnel/

[Mansell89]

Red Bull could be a threat this weekend, we think on a track layout like this?

[venkyhere]

Red Bull could be a threat this weekend, we think on a track layout like this?

Absolutely not. This track is the litmus test for recharge/deploy efficiency, and that is Redbull's Achilles heel, which they 'CANNOT FIX' (assuming they have it in hand) because of ADUO.

[Badger]

Red Bull could be a threat this weekend, we think on a track layout like this?

Absolutely not. This track is the litmus test for recharge/deploy efficiency, and that is Redbull's Achilles heel, which they 'CANNOT FIX' (assuming they have it in hand) because of ADUO.

This track is a litmus test for aerodynamic efficiency and ICE power.

[Valeo]

Red Bull has been working for a longer time on a new wind tunnel, which will eventually allow the Austrian team to leave its current facility behind. Verstappen sees this as an important development for the team. The current wind tunnel is among the oldest in Formula 1 and, according to the four-time world champion, that can now be a limitation.
"Hopefully the correlation in the wind tunnel, with a new and the latest type of wind tunnel that you build, will all be a bit easier to understand with the car," Verstappen told Viaplay. "Instead of a wind tunnel that comes from World War II," he laughed. "So of course you hope that as a team you can make a step there as well."
The Red Bull driver explicitly sees the current facility as one of the factors that can limit the team: "That is certainly one of the big fundamental problems with the wind tunnel," he continued. When asked whether the old facility can actually be a limitation regarding the development of the 2026 and 2027 cars, Verstappen answered clearly: "Absolutely."

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/verstapp ... ind-tunnel

[Badger]

Hmm, the article starts off by stating they will start 2027 with the new tunnel. So maybe it will be operational already before the opening race, but the base 2027 car will be developed in the old tunnel, or a mix of both.

[Valeo]

Season over

[f1isgood]

Max saw all his options and went for the bag. His interest in the series has been dwindling for a very good while now and he decided it was time to make some money. Great decision honestly. He will be a top driver but I just don't see what Red Bull have to offer going forward except the bag.

[Badger]

Race pace looked competitive, quali pace there's work to be done.

[euv2]

Race pace looked competitive, quali pace there's work to be done.

Race pace - Mercedes>Ferrari>Red bull>MCL

Max was almost reaching Mercedes and Ferrari lap times, shows they have some pace but in qualy runs they are terrible at the moment, need to figure out the balance and tire temps, every week they seem to continue to struggle with outlaps and what temp to start the run with.

[Rikhart]

Max saw all his options and went for the bag. His interest in the series has been dwindling for a very good while now and he decided it was time to make some money. Great decision honestly. He will be a top driver but I just don't see what Red Bull have to offer going forward except the bag.

I strongly doubt this is the case, he is mega rich already and would just quit the sport. let's see what happens in the next couple of years.

[Valeo]

"It was difficult to find the right balance in the corners," said Verstappen. "We need to work on that to be faster on Saturday. The gap is big. Of course, I hope we can get a bit closer, but it's hard to say right now."

Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Waché stated that Red Bull indeed had a problem with the balance of the car, similar to the previous race in Zandvoort. "We are trying to remedy the problems, both in terms of set-up and the choice of certain parts. We will analyze that now," stated Waché.

https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/autospor ... 01377.html

I don't know how those balance issue are such a topic again as they hardly added any parts during the last 6-8 weeks.
That's pre Austria speech.

Lawson on VCARB’s strong performance: “It’s no surprise to me that VCARB is making this progress. They’ve been very strong all year, and every update they bring just works well. So it doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“Of course it’s also very nice for me to know that the car is still very fast if I go back. Yet they drive completely differently; it’s really bizarre how they get to similar lap times with a completely different car.”

https://racingnews365.nl/red-bull-in-ge ... -en-lawson

[Juzh]

Interesting analysis of the relative power of the power units:

https://x.com/FDataAnalysis/status/2095 ... 78287?s=20

Ferrari deficit seems a bit overstated. I know X user has done some research but just my gut feeling tells me it's not possible to be as competitive as ferrari with a 40 hp deficit. Like zero chance. 40 HP in monza equals more than a second of laptime. Not to mention 40 hp deficit on ICE is larger percentage of total power this year than in the past, so deficit in laptime should be larger still.

[venkyhere]

I didn't watch the sessions, however looking at the FP2 data :
- Unless Mercedes and Ferarri screw up massively, they will occupy the podium
- McLaren hiding a lot, but doesn't look like they can make-up as much to match the above two.
- Redbull clearly very much under-deploying in the straights, but I don't think they will make up the gap much (because no team is running full-tilt on deployment in FP2 anyway), unless they fix the handling of the car. RB22 looks bad through the two Lesmos, however it looks mega terrible through the Ascari chicane. The only 'zone' where the car looks competitive is Parabolica. Even Redbull's famous 'friday data fed overnight fix' thing wouldn't bridge the gap much, it looks like. The gulf in performance between the top three and Redbull is bigger than what the FP2 data says, since parabolica is the only corner where understeer won't punish as much as the lesmos and Ascari do. They have to find 1s of laptime, for a podium fight. I don't think it's possible.

[Juzh]

Agreed vankyhere