Powering UpOracle Red Bull Racing has had a few engine suppliers over the years – so let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at our fantastic championship-winning engines, and those that weren’t so good…
Theheartbeatofanyracecarisitsengine,andoverthe19seasonstheTeamhasbeencompetinginFormulaOneit’shadsomeunbeatablepowerplants.It’salsohadsomethatnotonlyhaven’tperformed,buthavecausedverypublicbust-upsbetweentheTeamandthesupplier.Let’stakeatripdownmemorylaneandlookatthehighsandthelows...
When the Team took over Jaguar Racing for the 2005 season, there was very little time to change much (in some old pictures, you can still see the Jaguar green on some of the equipment), so the Team stuck with Cosworth engines, which had a strong F1 legacy. It was the only V10 the Team ever raced with and was a solid unit, producing two P4 finishes during the season.
The Team swapped over to Ferrari for the 2006 season, but cooling problems saw us stuck in the midfield. Development was stopped on the RB2 midway through the season, so Adrian Newey and his team could focus on what was going to be the Renault-powered RB3. However, the RB2 does earn its place in history as the first car at Red Bull Racing to claim a podium.
In 2007 the Team moved over to Renault engines and while the first two seasons were plagued with reliability issues, by year three things took a drastic turn upwards.
The RB5 was launched for the 2009 season and fortunes began to change. The RB5 gave us our first pole position, first win and first one-two finish – all of which happened at the Chinese Grand Prix.
From then on, the Team was unstoppable, who with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber went on to claim four double world championships with the Renault engine.
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When the regulations changed from the V8 to the hybrid V6 engines, as you can expect, there was a huge shakeup, and the Renault Energy f1-2014 unit was causing issues not just for the Team but also for all Constructors using the Renault engine. It was so bad that in the first test the Team was only able to complete 100km on track.
The following year (2015) was even worse with the Renault powertrain underperforming and the team only collecting three podiums, the Team’s worst haul since 2008.
And possibly the most frustrating car with a Renault engine the RB11© Getty Images
By the end of the 2018 season and a 12-year partnership, the Team felt that Renault weren’t putting enough time, money and effort into the development of their Formula One hybrid engines and had fallen behind other teams, so made the choice to sign with Honda.
There was a steep learning curve between the two new collaborators and at round nine of the 2019 season it started to come together. It was the Team’s home race at Spielberg where Max Verstappen claimed the first win for Honda since 2006.
Max collecting Honda’s first win since 2006 in the RB15© Getty Images
The first two seasons with Honda was very promising the Team finished P3 and then P2 in the constructors’ championship. 2021 was when it all clicked. With the RB16B, Max Verstappen was crowned World Drivers’ Champion and the Team missed out on the constructors’ title by just 28 points.
The following season the engine was changed to Red Bull Powertrains, which was supported by Honda. The regulations had also changed and the cars were unrecognisable when compared to the 2021 season. The Team hit the ground running and dominated the season, collecting 17 wins, 28 podiums, and 759 championship points. And if we thought that was good, we were unprepared for the 2023 season.
The Honda-powered RB19 broke every record you can think of and sent our rivals quaking in their boots. Not only were they worried about how to beat the RB19, but also how strong the RB20 could be in the 2024 season.
The good news is we don’t have to wait long to find out…
Now that’s power!© Getty Images
