2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

Anyone has an idea what this could be?
If it would be simple wear and tear then they could name the part and probably could have fixed it by now.
But what else can cause performance loss over time?

It can't even be fuel level --> weight distribution related as it happens in qualy from Q1 --> Q2 --> Q3 but the fuel level should be more or less the same there.

The grip isn't the same between Q1 to Q3. What I can guess there are "bad windows" in the car that it can get into through a combination of fuel load, ride height, grip level, and corner speed. The suspension has dynamic stiffness which also depends on the ride height. It all runs amok in certain situations. It continues from the 2024 car because it's baked into their suspension philosophy. Designers don't stray from old tricks.

[venkyhere]

Amigos....
Looks like the RB22 is in a 'good spot' setupwise (for a Friday). After looking at the Q-sim data, I am inclined to believe that Max was running more fuel load than the other three top teams, which bodes well for the weekend. Car setup wise : unless RedBull make a massive overnight screw up OR unless Merc/Ferrari/McL massively improve overnight ; OR both, the RB22 should be competitive on Sunday.

[Valeo]

Pierre Waché, Technical Director of Oracle Red Bull Racing, stated after the free practice sessions on Friday in Madrid: “It went quite smoothly, like a normal Friday where you know the car still needs to be improved. The second free practice went slightly better than the first. We made many adjustments between sessions and I think we will consider even more changes ahead of the third free practice, as there is still a lot of work to be done regarding the car’s setup.”

Waché continued: “The mechanical grip and handling present a greater challenge than we had expected, the tire graining was more than anticipated, and the track is bumpier than the simulations showed, so there are quite a few challenges. There are many different types of corners here, which makes it interesting from a technical point of view, but overtaking looks set to be difficult. The long run was quite competitive and our tire management was good, so there are positive points, but we know that we are not fast enough yet. So there is still a lot of work to do.”

https://news.verstappen.com/nl/article/14115

[Wouter]

Red Bull adjusts Verstappen car again

According to Pierre Waché, Red Bull has significantly adjusted Max Verstappen's car on the Madring. They are not yet completely satisfied with the performance at Red Bull, and according to Waché, the necessary things are adjusted towards today’s third free practice.
"It is better not to be completely satisfied on Friday. We certainly have a lot of work to do in terms of adjustment of the car. The mechanical grip, especially the driving behaviour, is more difficult than we thought beforehand. It’s not all going so smoothly.”

"As for the battery power, it is clear that we also have to do a lot of work. In addition, the tires also grain more than we expected. Anyway, I think we were a little better in the second free practice than in the first free practice, so we have to continue that rising line."

"Between the first and the second free practice, we have already made quite a few changes. We will certainly continue to explore certain directions and I expect that we will make even more adjustments for the third free practice sessions."

[liuzka]

Anyone has an idea what this could be?
If it would be simple wear and tear then they could name the part and probably could have fixed it by now.
But what else can cause performance loss over time?

It can't even be fuel level --> weight distribution related as it happens in qualy from Q1 --> Q2 --> Q3 but the fuel level should be more or less the same there.

Only things that comes to my mind are that some part starts flexing more due to heat or repetitive loading. I would say that heat is more likely.

[Farnborough]

Anyone has an idea what this could be?
If it would be simple wear and tear then they could name the part and probably could have fixed it by now.
But what else can cause performance loss over time?

It can't even be fuel level --> weight distribution related as it happens in qualy from Q1 --> Q2 --> Q3 but the fuel level should be more or less the same there.

Only things that comes to my mind are that some part starts flexing more due to heat or repetitive loading. I would say that heat is more likely.

A parallel in this COULD be the Schumacher era ferrari with the changes they experienced in using rotary dampers within rear suspension. The physics of which are quite challenging, with changes they experienced in heating and the lifing of hydraulic fluid during race period. The internal tolerance of components also shifting through heat build too, even though they chased that aspect into very high cost manufacturing and materials process.

Its very well documented as to materials and experience they went through.

With notable removal of heave damper through last regulation set (22~25) the designers were forced in trying to compensate by other means to achieve similar, and not in these regulation as far as is known either.

It's hard to tell exactly what form any dampers are taking now, but decay over Q and race period (without changes allowed in parc fermè) can fit this use scenario we see now.

Dampers are, effectively, turning motion into heat by restriction of hydraulic movement within each "chamber" of damper. They ordinarily shift with heat capacity and fluid durability,, particularly if space requirements have taken priority for chassis packaging.

[Wouter]

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen sits down for an exclusive chat with the BBC’s F1 correspondent Andrew Benson.

The Red Bull driver talks about why he extended his contract, his discussions with McLaren, his stunning appearance
at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in May, and the new Formula 1 engine rules.

https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0p94xz0

[Valeo]

Spending 25 min in the pits waiting for a red flag

He'll have hardly any running now

[venkyhere]

Madring Sector3 is a disaster.
either
the car is really bad in slow 90 degree turns (similar sector3 time as Aston Martin) that there is no scope for improvement via setup
or
Max is doing an AbuDhabi 2025 quali S3 here, intentionally driving suboptimally in S3 and then, Q2 onwards, show his hand.

[Valeo]

Waiting for the car starting to fall apart now

Wasting a new soft now?

[pantherxxx]

Better than expected actually. Needs a miracle to win tomorrow.

[Valeo]

Would have needed a lot more in the first sector to compensate for the last.
They are really struggling there.
Still good result for such a technical circuit.

[Badger]

Top 3 was needed to compete here. Nail the start and then we'll see who grains their tyres more.

[euv2]

More importantly this might have the cars best performance in terms of cornering this season, they must have figured something out, the new front wing with the modified dive plane they brought in Monza is probably working. Still a bit short of MCL and FER in cornering but almost matching MERC here with worse deployment. They wasted the fresh medium in Q1, so a bit worse off in terms of tire allocation, race will all come down to graining.

[Valeo]