2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Sieper]

Probably Antonelli. He drifted off the track there, at that moment when Russell braked himself out of the chicane.

[Badger]

Mercedes would be losing an upgrade too. It's a net positive for them because it leaves Mercedes "a spec" behind, while they could have been more careful on what to change about their PU that could have been carried out next year. There is plenty to gain for them. A moving target is much harder to catch than a benchmark you know well and have measured throughout the season.

It's understandable to not be content with the results. But I don't get the claims for foul play. They all agreed to this. It's done now, and you cannot undo it.

The claim isn't "foul play". The claim is incompetence. Listen to what the reporters say from their insiders at Audi, Honda, and Ferrari. They all reference deficits to the Mercedes ICE internally. That speaks volumes. I don't need to add anything.

What they say now hardly matters. Complaining after the regulations were agreed and finalized is immature and child-like. As I said, the time to challenge the mechanism was during the negotiations. Any incompetence here lies as much with the teams that accepted it as with the FIA.

Red Bull and the others probably have little ground to oppose the decision now anyway. There had already been plenty of speculation that Mercedes would start the new era with a very strong power unit. We had rumours about possible loopholes a year in advance. Meanwhile, the ADUO mechanism was finalized relatively late.

Honestly, I believe that the other manufacturers feared Mercedes would begin with a major advantage, so they agreed on a restrictive system so that they could keep them locked in this season. If that really happened, no wonder Toto has this constant smug-face on him. Mercedes played them all like a fiddle.

The complaining is justified and I think will succeed to some extent. The fact that the best engine on the grid is getting extra upgrades and budget is outrageous. The fact that RBPT is essentially being gate kept from competing in that area of the sport for this season and the next is equally outrageous. “You made the second best engine so you will not be allowed to upgrade for two years, congratulations”. The fact that no one knows what the formula is for deciding this is also outrageous.

You are elevating form over substance. Not that it’s even clear what the form is here because there is zero transparency in the ADUO mechanism. The FIA usually elevates substance over form in the long run, they are not opposed to changing regulations if they do not serve their intended purpose. I imagine ADUO fits in that category as currently constructed.

[Emag]

The claim isn't "foul play". The claim is incompetence. Listen to what the reporters say from their insiders at Audi, Honda, and Ferrari. They all reference deficits to the Mercedes ICE internally. That speaks volumes. I don't need to add anything.

What they say now hardly matters. Complaining after the regulations were agreed and finalized is immature and child-like. As I said, the time to challenge the mechanism was during the negotiations. Any incompetence here lies as much with the teams that accepted it as with the FIA.

Red Bull and the others probably have little ground to oppose the decision now anyway. There had already been plenty of speculation that Mercedes would start the new era with a very strong power unit. We had rumours about possible loopholes a year in advance. Meanwhile, the ADUO mechanism was finalized relatively late.

Honestly, I believe that the other manufacturers feared Mercedes would begin with a major advantage, so they agreed on a restrictive system so that they could keep them locked in this season. If that really happened, no wonder Toto has this constant smug-face on him. Mercedes played them all like a fiddle.

The complaining is justified and I think will succeed to some extent. The fact that the best engine on the grid is getting extra upgrades and budget is outrageous. The fact that RBPT is essentially being gate kept from competing in that area of the sport for this season and the next is equally outrageous. “You made the second best engine so you will not be allowed to upgrade for two years, congratulations”. The fact that no one knows what the formula is for deciding this is also outrageous.

You are elevating form over substance. Not that it’s even clear what the form is here because there is zero transparency in the ADUO mechanism. The FIA usually elevates substance over form in the long run, they are not opposed to changing regulations if they do not serve their intended purpose. I imagine ADUO fits in that category as currently constructed.

You can argue that ADUO is badly designed and that its methodology should be more transparent. That is completely fair. But that is separate from claiming the FIA is lying to people and is controlled by Mercedes or whatever crazy fan theory you hear in social media.

I guess it's pretty clear now that whatever ADUO does, it certainly does not assess the best overall power unit or the fastest car. It assesses ICE performance through a specific process agreed upon by the manufacturers. Under that process, Red Bull’s ICE was the benchmark, while Mercedes fell far enough behind to qualify for one additional upgrade. Which is completely nuts, because what the hell kind of process they agreed on where Mercedes not only doesn't rank as the best, it's actually behind enough to qualify for one additional upgrade ...

The methodology is flawed and it should be changed. But just because Mercedes has the best overall power unit that does not mean the FIA’s ICE calculation were wrong. This is the mechanism everyone accepted. Now it has produced an absurd outcome which deserves criticism, but you can't expect them to swiftly revert a decision which was unanimously agreed upon. Because then, where do you draw the line? For the sake of one team, let's change everything about the regulations when something isn't right ...

And don't get me wrong, I do expect that it will be changed, but not before we witness at least a Kimi x2 WDC I reckon.

[Valeo]

[DDopey]

It still should be possible to completely renew their electrical part next season, just need to convince FIA the current setup is a dead end for the 58/42 needs next year.

[AR3-GP]

The FIA results that emerged in Monte Carlo regarding the performance of the various endothermic engines were clear, for those who had forgotten them: the difference between the Ferrari ICE and the Mercedes ICE was between 6 and 8%, in terms of hp between 35 and 40 hp, a gap that is far from negligible in a regulation that has made the engine even more central than in the past. As we anticipated, the step forward of Ferrari's new engine specification would not have closed the gap with the Mercedes engine, rather getting closer while still remaining distant. And after the race came Vasseur's direct confirmation: "We didn't expect to close the gap with ADUO 1 and ADUO 2," he said, before adding: "Of course, the goal is to close the gap as quickly as possible. But I didn't expect to close the gap to Mercedes in two months."

https://autoracer.it/ferrari-aduo2-monz ... tore-sf26/

At Ferrari they don't even take the FIA measurements seriously. Red Bull is not the benchmark ICE. One can repeat the FIA's nonsense until you turn blue, it still won't be true.

[Waz]

Not to mention that Lawson couldn't even score points today in this car when Antonelli won from the back.... This car is just horrendous. Tsunoda finished 10th in the VCARB after starting from the back.

You are totally overlooking that Lawson had an incident with Hulk that dropped him to the back, about 15 seconds behind the whole field.

Zero information about it, but it was after the restart.

[lio007]

It must be frustrating for RBPT, I'm sure they have some ideas to improve the electrical side of the PU, but their hands are tied.

[Badger]

It still should be possible to completely renew their electrical part next season, just need to convince FIA the current setup is a dead end for the 58/42 needs next year.

This is what I am expecting in terms of drawing concessions already for next year. The most offensive part about the current ADUO ruling is that Merc gets to rehomologate their electrical side twice whereas RBPT is locked until 2028. RBPT should be allowed to completely rehomologate their PU at the start of 2027. In fact it may need to in order to comply with the new regs.

[Badger]

What they say now hardly matters. Complaining after the regulations were agreed and finalized is immature and child-like. As I said, the time to challenge the mechanism was during the negotiations. Any incompetence here lies as much with the teams that accepted it as with the FIA.

Red Bull and the others probably have little ground to oppose the decision now anyway. There had already been plenty of speculation that Mercedes would start the new era with a very strong power unit. We had rumours about possible loopholes a year in advance. Meanwhile, the ADUO mechanism was finalized relatively late.

Honestly, I believe that the other manufacturers feared Mercedes would begin with a major advantage, so they agreed on a restrictive system so that they could keep them locked in this season. If that really happened, no wonder Toto has this constant smug-face on him. Mercedes played them all like a fiddle.

The complaining is justified and I think will succeed to some extent. The fact that the best engine on the grid is getting extra upgrades and budget is outrageous. The fact that RBPT is essentially being gate kept from competing in that area of the sport for this season and the next is equally outrageous. “You made the second best engine so you will not be allowed to upgrade for two years, congratulations”. The fact that no one knows what the formula is for deciding this is also outrageous.

You are elevating form over substance. Not that it’s even clear what the form is here because there is zero transparency in the ADUO mechanism. The FIA usually elevates substance over form in the long run, they are not opposed to changing regulations if they do not serve their intended purpose. I imagine ADUO fits in that category as currently constructed.

You can argue that ADUO is badly designed and that its methodology should be more transparent. That is completely fair. But that is separate from claiming the FIA is lying to people and is controlled by Mercedes or whatever crazy fan theory you hear in social media.

I guess it's pretty clear now that whatever ADUO does, it certainly does not assess the best overall power unit or the fastest car. It assesses ICE performance through a specific process agreed upon by the manufacturers. Under that process, Red Bull’s ICE was the benchmark, while Mercedes fell far enough behind to qualify for one additional upgrade. Which is completely nuts, because what the hell kind of process they agreed on where Mercedes not only doesn't rank as the best, it's actually behind enough to qualify for one additional upgrade ...

The methodology is flawed and it should be changed. But just because Mercedes has the best overall power unit that does not mean the FIA’s ICE calculation were wrong. This is the mechanism everyone accepted. Now it has produced an absurd outcome which deserves criticism, but you can't expect them to swiftly revert a decision which was unanimously agreed upon. Because then, where do you draw the line? For the sake of one team, let's change everything about the regulations when something isn't right ...

And don't get me wrong, I do expect that it will be changed, but not before we witness at least a Kimi x2 WDC I reckon.

Which mechanism was known? As I understand it the teams were not allowed to know the details so they couldn't game the system.

Anyways, I think you are overcomplicating it. Every year they agree on a set of technical regulations but the FIA is sometimes willing to change the rules if they are not working as intended. We've already had changes to the engine regulations for 2027 and 2028 (which were previously agreed). In the case of ADUO, having a "BoP" type mechanism that actually does the complete opposite of what it was intended to do seems like it would rank pretty high up on the "to change" list for the FIA. It does not require scrapping the entire system immediately, but something as simple as allowing RBPT to completely rehomologate their engine for 2027 would already go a long way towards ensuring fairness. Then in the long run we can work towards getting rid of ADUO completely or revising it to be much more accurate.

[Paa]

Red Bull being so silent and relaxed about the ADUO farce only makes sense if they already have some kind of agreement that they will be able to re-homologate their ICE and also electrical part due to the rule changes or whatever.
If they don't and still behave like this then I'll be shocked and maybe they don't even deserve it.

[f1isgood]

Red Bull being so silent and relaxed about the ADUO farce only makes sense if they already have some kind of agreement that they will be able to re-homologate their ICE and also electrical part due to the rule changes or whatever.
If they don't and still behave like this then I'll be shocked and maybe they don't even deserve it.

This is the new management. Smiles and good vibes. Zero results on track. Verstappen going to go winless

Regardless of ADUO that is a failure, a very significant failure.

[Emag]

The FIA results that emerged in Monte Carlo regarding the performance of the various endothermic engines were clear, for those who had forgotten them: the difference between the Ferrari ICE and the Mercedes ICE was between 6 and 8%, in terms of hp between 35 and 40 hp, a gap that is far from negligible in a regulation that has made the engine even more central than in the past. As we anticipated, the step forward of Ferrari's new engine specification would not have closed the gap with the Mercedes engine, rather getting closer while still remaining distant. And after the race came Vasseur's direct confirmation: "We didn't expect to close the gap with ADUO 1 and ADUO 2," he said, before adding: "Of course, the goal is to close the gap as quickly as possible. But I didn't expect to close the gap to Mercedes in two months."

https://autoracer.it/ferrari-aduo2-monz ... tore-sf26/

At Ferrari they don't even take the FIA measurements seriously. Red Bull is not the benchmark ICE. One can repeat the FIA's nonsense until you turn blue, it still won't be true.

I guess people want to interpret things according to their own beliefs. There is no explicit statement made here which denies the FIA result, it simply mentions the gap they (Ferrari) have to Mercedes. Given that Mercedes is not only a better power unit (as in the whole thing) than Ferrari, but the best team overall in 2026, I dont see why any team wouldn’t have them as the benchmark regardless of who is in 1st place in the ICE department.

I have no trouble whatsoever believing RedBull have the best ICE. Given that the ICE is only responsible for half of the unit, what goes on in the other half is arguably even more important since it’s the variable output and not the static “guaranteed” power that comes from tge ICE.

The FIA isn’t lying to anyone. The teams agreed on a sh*tty measurement methodology for the overall performance classification and now they have to deal with the consequences of that decision for at least this season. I don’t get all these people here acting as if RedBull can do anything about it when they have the best ICE under the currently agreed and approved measurement process. It was calculated twice at RedBull’s request for a review and the same result appeared. Horner wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it either, except being more snarky in the paddock.

[DDopey]

Its quite a clever post. It will piss off the Merc. top people that their engine is beat by an energy drink supplier. One of the reasons that Toto already said that Merc. has the best engine. With this post emphasizing that RB has the best engine might make it possible to have some ADUO changes.

[Sevach]

I still havent heard what happened at lap 40?

L39: 1.24:6
L40: 1.26:6 !
L41: 1:27:1 !
L42: 1.25:5
L43: 1.25:0

Only came back in the 24's for two laps for the remaining race after the huge drop.
That can't have been wear?

It's probably the lap that he went over the broken tarmac in T1. He didn't go off track like Antonelli did, but he did have to slow down a lot.

It was pretty weird, after going past Piastri, Max went from more or less following Ant to getting chased back by Piastri.

The FIA results that emerged in Monte Carlo regarding the performance of the various endothermic engines were clear, for those who had forgotten them: the difference between the Ferrari ICE and the Mercedes ICE was between 6 and 8%, in terms of hp between 35 and 40 hp, a gap that is far from negligible in a regulation that has made the engine even more central than in the past. As we anticipated, the step forward of Ferrari's new engine specification would not have closed the gap with the Mercedes engine, rather getting closer while still remaining distant. And after the race came Vasseur's direct confirmation: "We didn't expect to close the gap with ADUO 1 and ADUO 2," he said, before adding: "Of course, the goal is to close the gap as quickly as possible. But I didn't expect to close the gap to Mercedes in two months."

https://autoracer.it/ferrari-aduo2-monz ... tore-sf26/

At Ferrari they don't even take the FIA measurements seriously. Red Bull is not the benchmark ICE. One can repeat the FIA's nonsense until you turn blue, it still won't be true.

And somehow we are to believe Red Bull has 11 more HP than the Merc(at least).

On other news.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red- ... /10853835/
Robin Raikkonen to Red Bull junior academy.