Red Bull RB16 Speculation Thread

[lio007]

I'm being as pessimistic as possible.

Typically winter gains amount to .3 from the power unit, or until the first power unit update. Assuming Honda brings another .3 over the winter, and the Red Bull chassis also improves by .3 that would mean another .6.

What I think is going to happen(speculation thread after all) Red Bull gets a bit closer but still slower than Mercedes, Ferrari gets closer as well. Mercedes will still have the fastest car, but the gap will be smaller than 2019, which will allow Red Bull and Ferrari to get more wins on merit. Perhaps that's all we need to have a good battle,
Verstappen being .3 down still managed to get 3 wins on merit with a possible 4th with pole position in Mexico.

If he's closer maybe he can get 5 or 6 with some luck and good team work.

I fully agree with you on the first sentence.
Unfortunately this only concerns RBR and NOT Mercedes.
Why would Mercedes have the fastest car?
I think that after the transition year with Honda and the integration now from the engine/chassis,
RBR will have a much better RB16 this year than the RB15 was.

But better Integration, or more likely tighter packaging may also bring reliability problems. I'm excited to see how far they pushed the boundaries.

[Wouter]

I'm being as pessimistic as possible.

Typically winter gains amount to .3 from the power unit, or until the first power unit update. Assuming Honda brings another .3 over the winter, and the Red Bull chassis also improves by .3 that would mean another .6.

What I think is going to happen(speculation thread after all) Red Bull gets a bit closer but still slower than Mercedes, Ferrari gets closer as well. Mercedes will still have the fastest car, but the gap will be smaller than 2019, which will allow Red Bull and Ferrari to get more wins on merit. Perhaps that's all we need to have a good battle,
Verstappen being .3 down still managed to get 3 wins on merit with a possible 4th with pole position in Mexico.

If he's closer maybe he can get 5 or 6 with some luck and good team work.

I fully agree with you on the first sentence.
Unfortunately this only concerns RBR and NOT Mercedes.
Why would Mercedes have the fastest car?
I think that after the transition year with Honda and the integration now from the engine/chassis,
RBR will have a much better RB16 this year than the RB15 was.

.
But better Integration, or more likely tighter packaging may also bring reliability problems. I'm excited to see how far they pushed the boundaries.

Do you really think that they will opt for tighter packaging if that will cause reliability problems ?
I am confident that the engine / chassis combination will be awesome. Honda also gives them advice what works best.
They did the same during last year with regard to the chassis / engine.

[saviour stivala]

I remember them frantically having to drill/cut so much holes over the rear of the car in 2014 because of opting for a ‘tighter packaging’ that the rear of the car looked more like a sieve.

[LM10]

Why would Mercedes have the fastest car?

Maybe because they’ve had the fastest car for 6 years straight.

[Wouter]

Why would Mercedes have the fastest car?

.
Maybe because they’ve had the fastest car for 6 years straight.

And because it has been like that for six years, it will always be like that?
Good to know. Thanks.

[LM10]

Why would Mercedes have the fastest car?

.
Maybe because they’ve had the fastest car for 6 years straight.

And because it has been like that for six years, it will always be like that?
Good to know. Thanks.

Of course not, but if they’ve been the fastest for ages and ended the last race of 2019 with a pretty decent performance advantage over others, it’s likely they’re going to be fastest again. Especially with no regulation changes upcoming.

[lio007]

I remember them frantically having to drill/cut so much holes over the rear of the car in 2014 because of opting for a ‘tighter packaging’ that the rear of the car looked more like a sieve.

Personally I wouldn't compare 2014 to 2020 at all.
No experience with cooling requirements of the new PUs. And AFAIR there were some "miscommunication" between Renault and RB what was needed.
In this regard they are now "lightyears" away from that situation which will indeed benefit the RB16.
They have now their VTT as well, but dyno simulations are never as acurate as real track time.

[Sieper]

first RB16 teaser:

https://racingnews365.nl/red-bull-toont ... verstappen

dutch language but you'll catch the drift. A picture taken through a rim looking from the backside to the top engine cover part.

[Maplesoup]

first RB16 teaser:

https://racingnews365.nl/red-bull-toont ... verstappen

dutch language but you'll catch the drift. A picture taken through a rim looking from the backside to the top engine cover part.

Hmm I don't know I think that might just be last year's car maybe. Nothing there specifies that it is a picture of the rb16.

Red bull seem to of been very quiet over the winter period. Even Williams is posting teasers of their car.

[lio007]

first RB16 teaser:

https://racingnews365.nl/red-bull-toont ... verstappen

dutch language but you'll catch the drift. A picture taken through a rim looking from the backside to the top engine cover part.

Hmm I don't know I think that might just be last year's car maybe. Nothing there specifies that it is a picture of the rb16.

Red bull seem to of been very quiet over the winter period. Even Williams is posting teasers of their car.

Indeed, compared to the other teams it's pretty poor, unfortunately.
Nearly only one tweet a day (on average)...
But, let's see what the next days will bring.

[Capharol]

first RB16 teaser:

https://racingnews365.nl/red-bull-toont ... verstappen

dutch language but you'll catch the drift. A picture taken through a rim looking from the backside to the top engine cover part.

Hmm I don't know I think that might just be last year's car maybe. Nothing there specifies that it is a picture of the rb16.

Red bull seem to of been very quiet over the winter period. Even Williams is posting teasers of their car.

Indeed, compared to the other teams it's pretty poor, unfortunately.
Nearly only one tweet a day (on average)...
But, let's see what the next days will bring.

i have to admit, i like the silence from RB, normally they took their mouth full and didn't preform at the start, i hope this silence is a good sign and not a bad one

[wesley123]

Why would Mercedes have the fastest car?

.
Maybe because they’ve had the fastest car for 6 years straight.

And because it has been like that for six years, it will always be like that?
Good to know. Thanks.

Well, considering the pace advantage they ended last year with and the fact that there are pretty much no regulation changes there is little reason to assume they wont be the quickest.

[Sieper]

there really is, considering the pace difference they ended with last year,

It went down from a 0.8 percent (beginning 2019) to 0.2 percent (end 2019) pace difference over 2019.

[PlatinumZealot]

What Ihave noticed of the years is RedBull NEVER gives sneak peaks of the current car!

[yener]

there really is, considering the pace difference they ended with last year,

It went down from a 0.8 percent (beginning 2019) to 0.2 percent (end 2019) pace difference over 2019.

True but false. Those numbers only show the average laptime in the race. Don't forget that Mercedes was so mighty in a couple of races that they were just cruising around in the last laps (when they were safe).
So they were not just 0.2% off the pace. I think the gap between the Merc and RBR is still huge.