After last week’s unveiling of the 2016 matte livery, Red Bull Racing have now released the first images of their RB12, the car they hope will help them make progress after the disappointments of 2015.
The RB12 will once again be powered by Renault, although in 2016 Tag Heuer will supply their name to the engine, while Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat form an unchanged driver line-up.
“Obviously the late engine decision last year was a challenge but we found a solution in time and the whole team has worked incredibly hard to recover over the winter,” said Team Principal Christian Horner.
“Therefore, we’re looking to build on the significant progress we made in the second half of 2015 and to carry that momentum into the early races of this season.
“My hopes for this season are that we genuinely make progress from where we were last year; that we get our heads down and we really develop the car well and hopefully with some performance coming on the power unit side as well, that will allow us to get closer to some of our immediate rivals.”
Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey believes the chassis of the RB12 should be extremely strong, if the figures from the teams’ simulations can be believed, and revealed the design team have been working hard to get all the parts working together in a cohesive manner.
“I’m often asked what area of the car I’m most pleased with, but with the stable regulations we have at the moment it’s difficult to find any major new areas to exploit,” said Newey.
“Therefore, what we’ve really tried to concentrate on with this car is getting a cohesive package for all the parts – the suspension, the chassis dynamics, aerodynamics – that they all work together in harmony.
“I think we’ve managed to build on the lessons of last year and all the indications from our simulations suggest that this year’s chassis should be strong.”
