2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Juzh]

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.

I thought this way always the case. or is the engine completely frozen until 28? in 28 they 100% will be able to do adjustments as energy flow limits will be increased but its a long time till then.

[Juzh]

I want to understand how the strongest ice has the weakest deployment. Mercedes clearly charges more. But how? If your ice is better you can regenerate more. Where is the double whammy?

Yeah, its strange. Maybe different battery chemistry, so merc can deploy better or regen better somehow?

It took honda literally ages to come up with a competitive battery and if I recall they came up with their own tech in doing so instead of relying on external suppliers. I'd hazard a guess RBPT is in a similar boat. Horner poached loads of techs from HPP that were able to come up with competitive ICE immediately but battery is another dimension entirely. I'm almost certain they're using external suppliers that will obviously have restrictions and compromises baked in. Battery tech lead time seems to be the longest of any tech in use in F1, so I dont expect miracles before 2028 or even 2029.

[TNTHead]

I want to understand how the strongest ice has the weakest deployment. Mercedes clearly charges more. But how? If your ice is better you can regenerate more. Where is the double whammy?

Yeah, its strange. Maybe different battery chemistry, so merc can deploy better or regen better somehow?

It took honda literally ages to come up with a competitive battery and if I recall they came up with their own tech in doing so instead of relying on external suppliers. I'd hazard a guess RBPT is in a similar boat. Horner poached loads of techs from HPP that were able to come up with competitive ICE immediately but battery is another dimension entirely. I'm almost certain they're using external suppliers that will obviously have restrictions and compromises baked in. Battery tech lead time seems to be the longest of any tech in use in F1, so I dont expect miracles before 2028 or even 2029.

For what its worth, isn't Ford involved in the battery development?

[AR3-GP]

The polesitter missed the final corner completely (01:29) and was still on pole by a tenth. This is what RB are up against against. Nothing has changed. All of Mercedes, Mclaren, and Ferrari are faster.

[lio007]

The polesitter missed the final corner completely (01:29) and was still on pole by a tenth. This is what RB are up against against. Nothing has changed. All of Mercedes, Mclaren, and Ferrari are faster.

Let's see what can be done next year.
At least the improvement potential is far bigger at RBR than e.g. at Mercedes or MCL.

[KimiRai]

Norris would have been up by 3 tenths
Russell and Piastri don't demonstrate the potential of their cars.
Leclerc crashed last time and couldn't use his new engine.
Hamilton is said to have made a mistake in the 1st sector.

That's how you get Max P3.

The polesitter missed the final corner completely (01:29) and was still on pole by a tenth.

Yep. Fully agree. Give Max the same car and they will see what is a proper lap...

[euv2]

The polesitter missed the final corner completely (01:29) and was still on pole by a tenth. This is what RB are up against against. Nothing has changed. All of Mercedes, Mclaren, and Ferrari are faster.

I don't think you can say nothing has changed, Max couldn't improve his sector 1 for his final lap, he was a tenth down on his PB, with some improvements on both chicanes the gap to Norris's hypothetical lap would have been much smaller.

There's a clear gap still in cornering performance vs MCL and FER who are almost equal atm, with MCL having the advantage of a better PU, but they are closer than at any other point this season.



The trace vs ANT doesn't look bad at all, with better kerb riding it would have made Max much more competitive, but that won't be solved this season.

RB22 started off with a much worse baseline compared to the others, they have been a step behind in terms of development compared to FER and MCL, difficult to compare MERC who have been holding on to their cards since they started so clear. I'd say they have done a good job closing the gap considering PU which automatically puts them behind 2 teams and let's not forget the time this season where Max was beefing with Gasly.

[Gillian]

I tend to agree with you euv2 but it also feels a lot like 2014 - 2020 where often Red Bull improved a lot during season and ended the season on a high, only to start on the backfoot again the year after.

[ME4ME]

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.

I thought this way always the case. or is the engine completely frozen until 28? in 28 they 100% will be able to do adjustments as energy flow limits will be increased but its a long time till then.

I somehow think Ben Sullayam will try to get rid of ADUO all together to save Aston Martin Honda and Alonso. Surely he'll gain support from Red Bull and possibly Audi in such an effort. The rest he'll have to deal with. I think (or lets be honest: hope ) that they all realize that ADUO doesn't work and settle for a sliding scale in dyno testing hours just like CFD+WT framework for the teams.

[Badger]

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.

I thought this way always the case. or is the engine completely frozen until 28? in 28 they 100% will be able to do adjustments as energy flow limits will be increased but its a long time till then.

The regs stipulate that a non ADUO team may only upgrade their ICE in 2027, and only their electrical components in 2028. So RB would not be able to upgrade their entire engine in 2027. It makes no sense.

[Badger]

RB haven’t brought a real upgrade in 2,5 months, so I wouldn’t expect them to keep up with the likes of McLaren and Ferrari who have brought many. Nonetheless it seems like they’ve been able to squeeze a bit more out of what they have. On the right track they seem closer to the front. We’ll see in the race if it is just an illusion or not.

[Farnborough]

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.

I thought this way always the case. or is the engine completely frozen until 28? in 28 they 100% will be able to do adjustments as energy flow limits will be increased but its a long time till then.

The regs stipulate that a non ADUO team may only upgrade their ICE in 2027, and only their electrical components in 2028. So RB would not be able to upgrade their entire engine in 2027. It makes no sense.

Agree, the need for R&D in adapting/adopting the power balance shift in both 27 and 28 would appear to "overwrite" ADUO reach and implementation.

The decision to shift E to IC balance for future years looks to run a coach and horses through the fine detail of allowed development, as seen and layed out when this rules era started.

[Bill]

I want to understand how the strongest ice has the weakest deployment. Mercedes clearly charges more. But how? If your ice is better you can regenerate more. Where is the double whammy?

Yeah, its strange. Maybe different battery chemistry, so merc can deploy better or regen better somehow?

It took honda literally ages to come up with a competitive battery and if I recall they came up with their own tech in doing so instead of relying on external suppliers. I'd hazard a guess RBPT is in a similar boat. Horner poached loads of techs from HPP that were able to come up with competitive ICE immediately but battery is another dimension entirely. I'm almost certain they're using external suppliers that will obviously have restrictions and compromises baked in. Battery tech lead time seems to be the longest of any tech in use in F1, so I dont expect miracles before 2028 or even 2029.

thats not true honda changed there battery at spa 2021 by then Max was leading the champion using batteries from 2015.battery are energy store a team can make them lighter ,but the amount of energy that can be stored are limited by regulation so they are not game changer.

[Jambier]

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.

I thought this way always the case. or is the engine completely frozen until 28? in 28 they 100% will be able to do adjustments as energy flow limits will be increased but its a long time till then.

The regs stipulate that a non ADUO team may only upgrade their ICE in 2027, and only their electrical components in 2028. So RB would not be able to upgrade their entire engine in 2027. It makes no sense.

ADUO makes no sense, there is a budget cap on engine like the chassis, so no need for any ADUO just let them free.

[Valeo]

So they don't have any new soft or medium left but ran a medium in Q1 and two softs in Q2 while being 1st with the first run and wasting a set.
What were they thinking...