2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[venkyhere]

... but this is the type of circuit where if you lead after the first corner you can control the race regardless of any pace deficit.

Not completely, IMO - they modified sector3 from the original SG ckt, by removing a half-square (4 turns) and replaced with a straight connection. That allows the following car to have DRS in sector3 and nicely be close behind the final T18-T19 onto the pit straight where there is another DRS, making overtaking possible.

[CjC]

Was Baku meant to be a McLaren track with the corners?

No

https://f1i.com/news/549518-mclaren-see ... venue.html

“But having said that, the car was fast enough to compete for pole position [in Baku], which is a credit to the engineers who have designed a pretty versatile car, even when not operating within the strengths of the car itself.


If the car was fast enough to compete for pole as mentioned by Stella, the car was good enough to win at Baku. People need to simply admit that the McLaren drivers can only deliver when the car has a significant pace advantage and is the dominant package. Not every race will be like Zandvoort but that's true for every race car ever made.

Was the car good? Yes. Were the drivers good enough to deliver at Baku? No. That's where the discussion should end.

You are the only one discussing it.

[Badger]

... but this is the type of circuit where if you lead after the first corner you can control the race regardless of any pace deficit.

Not completely, IMO - they modified sector3 from the original SG ckt, by removing a half-square (4 turns) and replaced with a straight connection. That allows the following car to have DRS in sector3 and nicely be close behind the final T18-T19 onto the pit straight where there is another DRS, making overtaking possible.

It’s still very hard to overtake. The DRS zones are all short and separated by corners where following is hard. The lead car can also control the pace on certain parts of the track to keep field spread low, preventing undercuts.

[basti313]

... but this is the type of circuit where if you lead after the first corner you can control the race regardless of any pace deficit.

Not completely, IMO - they modified sector3 from the original SG ckt, by removing a half-square (4 turns) and replaced with a straight connection. That allows the following car to have DRS in sector3 and nicely be close behind the final T18-T19 onto the pit straight where there is another DRS, making overtaking possible.

It’s still very hard to overtake. The DRS zones are all short and separated by corners where following is hard. The lead car can also control the pace on certain parts of the track to keep field spread low, preventing undercuts.

I still wonder why....I remember that in the initial races in Spore, the overtaking was rather well possible for a street circuit. What has changed?

[Badger]

Not completely, IMO - they modified sector3 from the original SG ckt, by removing a half-square (4 turns) and replaced with a straight connection. That allows the following car to have DRS in sector3 and nicely be close behind the final T18-T19 onto the pit straight where there is another DRS, making overtaking possible.

It’s still very hard to overtake. The DRS zones are all short and separated by corners where following is hard. The lead car can also control the pace on certain parts of the track to keep field spread low, preventing undercuts.

I still wonder why....I remember that in the initial races in Spore, the overtaking was rather well possible for a street circuit. What has changed?

Cars are bigger, faster, and more evenly matched.

[pantherxxx]

I think Verstappen will win in Singapore, even if the car isn’t the best, as long as it’s somewhat close to McLaren. Piastri is usually weaker on street circuits—for example, in Monaco this year he was 0.2 seconds slower than Norris over the whole weekend, and last year in Singapore he was 0.5 seconds slower. Also, Norris tends to choke under pressure, so Verstappen will beat him if the car is decent.

[Sergej]

There's a small update on the front wing, the n-th one of this year

[Badger]

There's a small update on the front wing, the n-th one of this year

They’re trying to balance out the car with even more front end as the rear downforce increases. Seems like they’ve found a balance where the car works well and they’re trying to apply it across all circuits.

The limiting factor for Max on slow speed circuits is always rotation in slow and medium speed corners, for which you need a strong front. The McLaren naturally has that, the RB has to work for it.

[Sergej]

yeah, the question is will the car behave as well as in low DF circuits (aka no understeer) when they will increase DF on the rear wing ? they will need more load from the front wing and this is what the update is aimed to.

[CjC]

It’s fair to say Red Bull are giving Max everything for his 5th WDC bid. Credit to them.
Whether they promised him this during the Mercedes speculation is one thing or they feel this is a guaranteed title shot this season and might be his last for awhile if they aren’t confident in their new PU for next season.

[venkyhere]

For all practical purposes, the reason this is a 'high downforce' circuit is because of :
1. mega braking required at 200+, 250+ and 300+ kph top speeds between corners, before entering a really slow corner
2. Almost all corners are +/- around 100kph and 150kph speeds (min speed through corner) - so the role of downforce for 'keeping the car glued in the middle of a corner' is minimal, it's not Hungary/Zandvoort/Spa etc where there are long duration corners at 200+ kph speeds.
3. The final two corners 18 and 19, is where the role of downforce is meaningful in keeping the car glued to the road in the middle of the corner, because they are both long duration and at 200+ kph speeds.

In other words, this is a "high-wings" circuit, rather than a high-downforce circuit, because the cars need as big aero surface area as possible, to produce 'some downforce' at speeds around 100 and 150 kph. Otherwise, the real use of 'high-downforce' is only in the braking zones because only there is the car going at speeds that will produce 'high-downforce'.

That way, the real 'gains' in laptime that drivers/cars achieve, over others, is only in the corner entry - who can brake as late as possible and still not hit the wall and not be too late to get onto the throttle at exit. The only place where the exit of the corner is high priority , are the final two corners before the pit straight. This is why I think mechanical grip is the most important factor here (McLaren with their magic-design front end are the market leaders with no one nearby) as slapping on more and more front wing isn't really going to help mid-corner or at corner exit.

[Badger]

It’s fair to say Red Bull are giving Max everything for his 5th WDC bid. Credit to them.
Whether they promised him this during the Mercedes speculation is one thing or they feel this is a guaranteed title shot this season and might be his last for awhile if they aren’t confident in their new PU for next season.

I think you are reading too much into the scope of this “upgrade”. This isn’t a new wing, it’s a bit of balancing work on the top element. Could probably be done out of the factory.

[organic]

[venkyhere]

That engine cover 'rear exit enlargement' is a good idea, better than opening more slits on the side.
Couldn't watch FP1, not reading much into laptimes.
For those who watched, Q : how did the body language of the RB21 look ? were there radio complaints about understeer, esp sector2 ?

[euv2]

That engine cover 'rear exit enlargement' is a good idea, better than opening more slits on the side.
Couldn't watch FP1, not reading much into laptimes.
For those who watched, Q : how did the body language of the RB21 look ? were there radio complaints about understeer, esp sector2 ?

From the side angles the new rear exit looks a larger variant of the newer design and not the older wider one, though I haven't seen a clear pic yet.

Initial understeer in the final 2 corner that was solved with 3 click of Front wing angle. Complaints about tyres overheating at the end of the lap. Otherwise, the car looked solid all way through, slightly difficult to tell with this new wide angle cam stabilising everything on Max's car. Riding more kerb than the RB20, no problems with the bumps either. Solid in all 3 sectors, I think Lando will be fastest in sector 2 this week, Max will need stronger sectors 1 and 3.

Only behind Leclerc who's running a slightly higher mode than RBR and MCL.