Milton Keynes-based team Red Bull has unveiled the first images of its new Formula 1 car, the RB16B.
Images of the car, due to be driven by Grand Prix winners Max Verstappen and new recruit Sergio Perez, were released on Tuesday (23/2).
Verstappen and ex-Racing Point driver Perez are due to drive the team’s latest challenger in a shakedown at Silverstone on Wednesday (24/2) before pre-season testing in Bahrain in mid-March.
The car will be the last to be powered by a branded Honda power unit, after the Japanese manufacturer announced its withdrawal from F1 last year, although Red Bull signed a deal earlier this month to take over the IP of the units and service them in-house after beefing up facilities at its base.
Honda remains fully committed to the project in 2021 and has designed an all-new engine in a bid to boost straight-line speed in a bid to allow the team to compete with Lewis Hamilton’s all-conquering Mercedes squad on a more regular basis.
Red Bull was the closest challenger to Mercedes, which wrapped up its seventh-consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ championship doubles in 2020, but still finished 254 points behind the Brackley-based outfit, winning only two of the 17 races compared to Mercedes’ tally of 13.
Whilst Honda focuses on improving its power unit, team principal Christian Horner and technical chief Adrian Newey will be hoping the four-time constructor champion team will be able to start the season on the front-foot after struggling in recent years.
The 2020 RB16 was known to be a tricky car to drive on the limit, with low-speed instability a trademark of the car in pre-season testing and the early races.
Although the team did improve the car, it was still tricky to drive, with Verstappen able to cope better with this than team-mate Alexander Albon, who was dropped in favour of Perez, who scored his first grand prix win at the Sakhir Grand Prix in December.
The car is the fourth 2021 challenger to be unveiled, with McLaren, Alfa Romeo, and Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri all launching their new designs within the last week.
Pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain on March 12th and lasts for three days before the first of a hoped-for 22 races on the calendar is slated for the same circuit on March 28th.
