This week a large part of the new Formula 1 cars from 2020 will be unveiled. Today Red Bull Racing pulls the canvas of the RB16, the car with which Max Verstappen is going to take a shot at the world title.
Red Bull Racing has all the arrows for the coming season to win the world title for the first time since 2013. In the second year with Honda as an engine supplier, it is hoped that progress will be sufficient. This new car, the RB16, is a thorough development of last year’s car. With the previous car (the RB15) Max Verstappen won three victories and his first pole positions. This year it must all be even better from the start of the season if he wants to have a good chance of winning the title.
Whether the RB16 is the right material for that, remains to be seen. Next week the winter tests will start in Barcelona and in a month the first Grand Prix will take place in Australia. Many Dutch fans eagerly await the performance of Verstappen op Zandvoort. This year Formula 1 will return there after an absence of 35 years. The time has come on the weekend of 1, 2 and 3 May.
It is striking that the RB16 is immediately shown in its full capacity. In recent years, Red Bull Racing first presented the new car with a special temporary color scheme. That is clearly not the case now. It leaves little to the imagination and it is immediately clear that the RB16 is very similar to its predecessor. The car already looks much more complete in terms of aerodynamics than the RB15 last year at the unveiling. This indicates that Red Bull, which started the development of this car earlier than before, is starting the new season with a car that is as complete as possible.
Verstappen may immediately feel the RB16. Today a so-called ‘shakedown’ takes place at Silverstone. Red Bull Racing may already photograph the car in action and film with Verstappen behind the wheel. The FIA ​​allows a number of such film days per season. It also immediately gives the team an extra chance to try the car before the winter tests begin.