LONDON – Red Bull on Tuesday gave a glimpse into the Formula 1 car that Max Verstappen hopes will lead him to a first title and end the reign of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes.
The team posted studio images of the matte-finished RB16B car online, which was essentially similar to last year’s model, but with Honda branding in place of previous title sponsor Aston Martin.
Aston Martin is now an independent team after the renaming of Racing Point under the Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.
“The same … but different,” commented Red Bull on Twitter.
“On the surface, the first few pictures of the new car suggest that not too much has changed over the winter,” the team added on its website.
“On the contrary, the RB16B offers many changes that preserve the status of the F1 as a serial battle of the boffins under the skin.”
Red Bull won two races with Verstappen last year and was distant runner-up from Mercedes, who have won both titles in the past seven years and will be the favorite to extend that run to eight.
Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position at the end of the 2020 season.
The Honda-powered team has signed veteran Mexican Sergio Perez in place of Thai racing driver Alexander Albon, who is falling back on the reserve role, to reinforce Red Bull’s pursuit of a first title since 2013 and expand its strategic options.
Known for making tires last, Perez was a winner for Racing Point in Bahrain last December after moving from last to first place.
Verstappen and Perez will test the car in the presence of Albon for the first time on Wednesday on a day of shooting at Silverstone.
“Mercedes was so dominant last year and that DNA is probably a big part of their current car,” team principal Christian Horner told reporters last week when asked about the prospects.
“We showed in Abu Dhabi that they can be beaten on a track where they have been unbeaten in the last six or seven years. We just have to be able to do this consistently over the 22 or 23 races.”
“We’re picking up speed.”
The season, which begins on March 28 in Bahrain, will be handed over to Honda as a component supplier before the technology is handed over to Red Bull, which will be launching its own brand of engine from 2022.
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