Red Bull is determined to remain a frontrunner even with agile, energy-efficient single-seaters. After dominating three of the four ground-effect seasons with Max Verstappen, the big question is what the Milton Keynes-based team will be capable of achieving in 2026. The real uncertainty has not been about Pierre Waché’s technical staff designing a competitive car, but rather whether the power unit developed by Ben Hodgkinson can truly challenge the established manufacturers with deep Formula 1 heritage.
At the moment, Mercedes is widely regarded as the clear benchmark, while Ferrari does not appear far behind. Audi seems slightly further back and Honda… somewhat off the radar, at least in this early phase. Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT), thanks to its close collaboration with Ford, appears to have done an impressive job with the DM01 V6. During the second Sakhir session alone, nearly 1,800 kilometers of data were collected. Naturally, there are still some teething issues, but the team led by Laurent Mekies is confident it can rightfully remain among the top four teams on the grid.
With that necessary context in mind — and it is worth repeating that the “energy drink” team has now officially become a power unit manufacturer — it is fair to ask what ambitions lie behind the RB22, the first Red Bull car conceived after cutting the umbilical cord with Adrian Newey.
At the Milton Keynes factory, construction of a state-of-the-art wind tunnel is already at an advanced stage. This facility is expected to deliver a significant performance boost, especially considering that the Bedford wind tunnel, although upgraded over the years, remains the oldest currently used in Formula 1.
Despite these objective challenges, the technical department led by Enrico Balbo continues to produce highly interesting concepts, initially developed through CFD and later validated in the wind tunnel. Red Bull ended the Sakhir test in third position, with Max Verstappen 1.117 seconds behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari SF-26.
A huge gap — at least on paper — except that the Monegasque driver used a set of C4 tires, a softer compound than the C3 rubber fitted to the Dutchman’s RB22. Max Verstappen, in fact, finished just two tenths behind Lando Norris’s McLaren, which was second and running the same tire compound.
In short, it is reasonable to believe that Red Bull kept some of its cards close to its chest and chose not to reveal its full potential. Much like the Mercedes W17, the RB22 appears to have been conceived with a strong focus on generating aerodynamic downforce, whereas McLaren and Ferrari seem to have prioritized maximum efficiency in their designs.
Waché’s staff is therefore targeting downforce in every single detail of the car, fully aware that modern ground-effect machines must carefully manage energy deployment and that drag reduction plays a crucial role in overall performance.
Following this philosophy, we were particularly struck by the wide array of micro-aerodynamic solutions introduced on the RB22. The car is a clear example of how small refinements can contribute to overall performance gains, helping the car operate within the optimal tire working window.
Already last week, we highlighted the small flaps added to the “roller blind” section of the bargeboard area. In images from Sakhir, two small triangular fins can also be seen extending from the Halo mounting point, further refining airflow management in that critical region.
Moving further back, on the floor ahead of the rear wheels, there are three slots near the outer edge, each containing micro-flaps designed to direct airflow outward, with the explicit aim of enhancing the outwash effect. The same images also reveal the data-gathering instrumentation (Pitot tubes) and, in the background, the large “mouse hole” opening that feeds airflow into the diffuser to maximize extraction efficiency.
At the rear of the car, another intriguing detail emerges: the serrated trailing edge of the cascade flaps, which this year are mounted to the diffuser, whereas until last season they were part of the rear brake duct assembly. The intention is to generate controlled vortices that help manage and direct the wake.
The final curiosity concerns the two pylons supporting the rear wing. By exploiting the maximum width allowed by the regulations and carefully shaping their twist, Red Bull has been able to add two small profiles on the trailing edge, just beneath the main wing plane. These are the kind of refinements you truly have to look for with a magnifying glass — subtle, almost invisible details that nonetheless underline the RB22’s obsessive focus on micro-aerodynamic gains.
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