2026 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Badger]

I don't know what numbers you were looking at, but it was more like 0.7s during the hard stints decreasing to 0.3 at the end due to worse deg for Piastri.
And knowing Piastri is worse on deg, Norris will be even more ahead. In short, the gap is considerable to the 3rd fastest team.

Of course we don't know deployment modes and fuel (although there is not much leeway to be heavier on a full race sim) but it did not look great.

The only numbers there are, the lap times.

You guys sit and watch the stints live and compare lap times between two cars that are off-set by 7-8 laps. Of course Piastri looks faster when he's chasing on fresher tyres, but it's only when you look at the averages for the whole stint that you see the true picture. And the true picture is that Piastri was around two tenths per lap faster for the whole sim.

Btw, Max's deg wasn't too rosy either, his tyres fell off completely on the final stint, more than Piastri's.

Of course I am correcting for offset when watching live. The hard stints were 0.5s slower at equal tyre age, the first stint equal, but Piastri was in Max' dirty air, so I would say he was a few tenths up. On average it is more than 0.2s and Norris is even better.

Clearly not. These are the averages. In total around 2 tenths difference.

Stint 1 (C3 both): Max 39.6 - Oscar 39.8
Stint 2 (C2 both): Max 38.7 - Oscar 38.4
Stint 3 (C2 vs C1): Max 37.9 - Oscar 37.7

Emag confirming the same.

[nitrotech]

The only numbers there are, the lap times.

You guys sit and watch the stints live and compare lap times between two cars that are off-set by 7-8 laps. Of course Piastri looks faster when he's chasing on fresher tyres, but it's only when you look at the averages for the whole stint that you see the true picture. And the true picture is that Piastri was around two tenths per lap faster for the whole sim.

Btw, Max's deg wasn't too rosy either, his tyres fell off completely on the final stint, more than Piastri's.

Of course I am correcting for offset when watching live. The hard stints were 0.5s slower at equal tyre age, the first stint equal, but Piastri was in Max' dirty air, so I would say he was a few tenths up. On average it is more than 0.2s and Norris is even better.

Clearly not. These are the averages. In total around 2 tenths difference.

Stint 1 (C3 both): Max 39.6 - Oscar 39.8
Stint 2 (C2 both): Max 38.7 - Oscar 38.4
Stint 3 (C2 vs C1): Max 37.9 - Oscar 37.7

Emag confirming the same.

He didn't watch live. Pastri ran through a lot of traffic and spent a lot of time right behind Max. His first stint is misleading. The gap was definitely bigger. But again, who knows who was hiding what.

[venkyhere]

[Badger]

Of course I am correcting for offset when watching live. The hard stints were 0.5s slower at equal tyre age, the first stint equal, but Piastri was in Max' dirty air, so I would say he was a few tenths up. On average it is more than 0.2s and Norris is even better.

Clearly not. These are the averages. In total around 2 tenths difference.

Stint 1 (C3 both): Max 39.6 - Oscar 39.8
Stint 2 (C2 both): Max 38.7 - Oscar 38.4
Stint 3 (C2 vs C1): Max 37.9 - Oscar 37.7

Emag confirming the same.

He didn't watch live. Pastri ran through a lot of traffic and spent a lot of time right behind Max. His first stint is misleading. The gap was definitely bigger. But again, who knows who was hiding what.

It's not that misleading. He closed because he had fresher rubber, then he stayed in the dirty air for a couple of laps, then Max boxed. Once Max boxed Oscar's pace did not pick up, he stayed in the 1:40s for the rest of the stint. His deg was just straight up worse on the C3s.

[Juzh]

Max' best lap from today

https://streamable.com/eiwn87

[f1isgood]

Regarding Piastri, it's either he took a step up last year with tire management (the pace differences between him and Norris were always very small but Norris still slightly quicker) or the McLaren car was super good. There's no serious reason to believe Norris will be any quicker than a tenth than Piastri.

The Mclaren car was that good last year. I think these regulations are more degradation limited and Mclaren does not have a car like the MCL39. We are heading back to 2023-2024 territory on long runs with NOR vs PIA. It can be up to 30 seconds between them in races.

I mean, Norris also seemed to have degradation. I think its hard to read.

[venkyhere]

https://racingnews365.com/max-verstappe ... ighlighted

“As a team, it was good to focus on longer run performance today,” the four-time champion said.

“We made some adjustments to the set up, which has given us some good direction overnight. Having a full day of running was positive.

“The tyres are super sensitive, so there’s still a lot of analysis required there.”

Friday will mark the final day of on-track action before the sport heads to Australia for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Verstappen asserted Red Bull's primary focus is on getting as many laps on the board as it can as it wraps up its test programme.

“On Friday, we will aim to get as many laps as we can between us,” he said.

[Valeo]

C'mon Max....
Want to know if we're doomed or not.

[f1isgood]

I think its clear Red Bull is behind the other 3. How far behind might depend from track to track. Bahrain in this energy management era wont provide a full picture.

[Valeo]

Not sure that's so clear?

[FNTC]

Max on the podcast with DC and Naomi earlier:

Well, personally, I think any good team with a Mercedes engine will do well.

Full podcast:

[f1isgood]

Not sure that's so clear?

Against Mercedes powered cars its obvious. Mercedes and McLaren both will enjoy 3 tenths just due to engine. Ferrari car is much more developed than Red Bull.

I think the top 4 teams are comfortably ahead of the midfield but amongst them its clear Red Bull is the weakest imo mostly because they've not yet developed their car well enough. I think this season had a lot of potential if the Merc engine was nerfed but now its just a development battle between Merc and McLaren and maybe Ferrari (if their engine is good enough). Red Bull's engine its unclear if they're better than Ferrari.

[ali623]

Not sure that's so clear?

Against Mercedes powered cars its obvious. Mercedes and McLaren both will enjoy 3 tenths just due to engine. Ferrari car is much more developed than Red Bull.

I think the top 4 teams are comfortably ahead of the midfield but amongst them its clear Red Bull is the weakest imo mostly because they've not yet developed their car well enough. I think this season had a lot of potential if the Merc engine was nerfed but now its just a development battle between Merc and McLaren and maybe Ferrari (if their engine is good enough). Red Bull's engine its unclear if they're better than Ferrari.

What actual evidence is there of this?

[pantherxxx]

According to bookmakers Red Bull is in a good place.

Betting odds:
Russel: 2.75X
Verstappen: 3.30X
Leclerc: 8.00X
Norris: 9.00X
Antonelli: 9.00X
Hamilton: 10.00X

[Valeo]

I've not seen something from other teams so far, I would rate as frightening.
In comparison to last year for example, I remember the race simulation by Norris at the Bahrain test and everybody and their dog knew McLaren would be untouchable in terms of tyre wear.
I would be very surprised if Max isn't in contention for a podium from the beginning.