Tag: VCARB

RB bringing upgrades to continue points run as Ricciardo readies for Zandvoort return

RB technical director Jody Egginton says the team will bring minor updates to the Dutch Grand Prix to try and continue its points run following the summer break. A scoreless first two races of the season has been followed by a run of points from all …

RB technical director Jody Egginton says the team will bring minor updates to the Dutch Grand Prix to try and continue its points run following the summer break.

A scoreless first two races of the season has been followed by a run of points from all but two of the rounds for RB since, including four straight top tens leading into August. From that run, however, only in Hungary did it lead the pack behind the top four teams, with Aston Martin, Haas, Alpine and Williams all having outscored RB in the other races, and Egginton says upgrades are required due to how competitive the field is.

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“Zandvoort presents some different challenges, but we have a solid baseline to take in this race, which, combined with a couple of further minor updates, should allow us to continue to fight towards the front,” Egginton said. “The circuit is a testing ‘Old School’ circuit ranking amongst the shorter circuits on the calendar with 14 corners of various types, combined with short straights with various cambers and many gravel traps, which will punish even the smallest of errors. 

“Achieving a good qualifying is very important here. With regards to the race, as it has been the case for the majority of races this season, we expect a tough fight with our closest competitors for points and we are looking forward to the battle in what is going to be a very intense second half of the season.”

Zandvoort marks a year since Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand in a crash during practice, ruling him out for five races last season, but he says the track was actually suiting him at the time and he hopes to be able to replicate that feeling on his return.

“It’s been a great summer break,” Ricciardo said. “I got back to Australia to see some friends and family, so I’m feeling recharged, fit and healthy.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to Zandvoort. Obviously last year it’s where my year turned upside down, but until the accident with Oscar [Piastri], I was really enjoying the circuit, the car was great around there. I’m confident we can continue where we left off before the break, our momentum was strong and we’re definitely in the fight for some points.”

Ricciardo has scored points in three of his last six races, but faces an uncertain future at this stage after Red Bull opted to stick with Sergio Perez beyond the summer break, with Liam Lawson understood to be a contender for a full-time RB seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda in 2025.

RB takes up option to keep Tsunoda for 2025

Yuki Tsunoda will stay with RB in 2025 after the team exercised an option to retain the promising Japanese driver for a further season. Sergio Perez’s contract extension at Red Bull had closed the door on a promotion for either Tsunoda or teammate …

Yuki Tsunoda will stay with RB in 2025 after the team exercised an option to retain the promising Japanese driver for a further season.

Sergio Perez’s contract extension at Red Bull had closed the door on a promotion for either Tsunoda or teammate Daniel Ricciardo, and Tsunoda had been linked with vacancies at both Haas and Stake if he were to leave the Red Bull outfit. On Thursday, however, the 24-year-old suggested there were options that meant he might not be free to choose his next move and it has now been confirmed he will remain with RB, as the team confirms it has “taken up the option on our agreement” with Tsunoda.

“I’m very happy to be staying with Visa Cash App RB and it’s a good feeling to have my future decided so early in the year,” Tsunoda said. “For that, I want to thank everyone at Red Bull and Honda who have played such an important role in my career and will continue to do so. The team has a big development project ahead and I’m excited to be part of it.

“It’s great to know that everyone appreciates all the hard work I have put in and that the team believes I can help it move further up the grid. We have already made clear progress this season and that really motivates me to always give of my best and that’s what I’ll continue to do with VCARB.

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“For the moment, I’m concentrating on the remaining races this season, with the aim of bringing home as many points as possible, always growing with the team, laying the groundwork to do even better next year!”

Team principal Laurent Mekies welcomed the news, speaking in glowing terms about the progress that Tsunoda has made in 2024 after a run of five point-scoring finishes in the past six races.

“I watched Yuki’s progress in Formula 1 with interest even before I returned to Faenza and it’s been impressive, year after year,” Mekies said. “The step up he has made this year is simply phenomenal, and he keeps surprising us all, race after race.

“There’s no doubting his natural speed to which he has now added a much more mature approach and this combination makes him a very quick and consistent performer, and a great team player.

“We continue to get a better understanding of what he needs from us and vice versa, so we are progressing together, Yuki as a driver and the team, as Visa Cash App RB. We share the same ambitions, so there are several good reasons to continue our journey together. He still has a lot to give!”

Sprint result ‘middle fingers up’ for Ricciardo despite Q1 exit

Daniel Ricciardo says his top four finish in the sprint let him put a “couple of middle fingers up” to critics even though he then dropped out in Q1 at the Miami Grand Prix. The Australian had a strong sprint qualifying session on Friday to secure a …

Daniel Ricciardo says his top four finish in the sprint let him put a “couple of middle fingers up” to critics even though he then dropped out in Q1 at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Australian had a strong sprint qualifying session on Friday to secure a spot on the second row and actually ran third ahead of Sergio Perez for a spell before holding off Carlos Sainz for fourth. Although he then struggled in qualifying for the grand prix and will start last on Sunday due to a grid penalty from China, Ricciardo says the sprint result was a significant one.

“It’s so nice to fight at the front of course but then to be just holding for what we know are faster cars, it feels like a statement,” Ricciardo said. “It’s nice. It’s nice to still have that dog in me; it’s cool. A lot of people like to talk s**t so it’s nice to [put a] couple of middle fingers up, subtly.

“The first few races everything that kind of could have gone wrong did go wrong, so we had a little bit of a sniff yesterday and I feel like we capitalized on that. So this morning as well, the start was good, everything was going well, and I just felt like it was time to capitalize, and make some noise.

“Here we are four hours later starting last for tomorrow! Honestly the weekend has still been good. This afternoon we’ll look into it; it’ll probably dictate the rest of our weekend but I don’t think it’s a reflection of our weekend. It’s still been really positive, would love to be out there in Q3 with Yuki [Tsunoda] but we’ll try and understand it for tomorrow.”

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Ricciardo acknowledges it is tough to go from the high of the sprint to the low of qualifying, but cited the struggles of Lando Norris on Friday evening as a similar example of where a driver feels like there’s a surprising lack of grip that renders them helpless.

“I am [disappointed],” he said. “I feel like it was one of those ones where I don’t think we could have done anything in terms of I didn’t have the grip starting the lap. I generally felt like Lando how he felt yesterday in SQ3. I don’t know what he said afterwards, but I saw his lap and he went pretty much a second slower on that soft. You could see him sliding already from the exit of Turn 1 and it was a mess, and that’s honestly how I felt.

“It didn’t feel like that second set of tires give me typically what it should with a new soft, so I felt like we were a little bit kind of handicapped. Obviously we don’t have an answer why, I’m not sure if Lando had an answer yesterday, but I felt his pain.

“That’s frustrating, but it’s not like we changed the car and changed something different and were like, ‘We shouldn’t have done that.’ The first set was fine. There was, as always, some time to find and I felt like it was definitely quite easy to find on that second set even with a new set of tires and track [evolution] and a bit less fuel.

“The lap time’s there in the car, I simply just don’t really know what happened with that second set of tires. It’s kind of a [bad] thing to say because there are no facts behind it, but you feel it when it doesn’t give you what you want, so that’s where the frustration lies.”

Ricciardo shocked to qualify fourth for Miami sprint after wall hits

Daniel Ricciardo says he was surprised to be on the second row for the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix after hitting the wall twice on his way to fourth place in qualifying. The RB driver has yet to reach the final part of qualifying in either a full …

Daniel Ricciardo says he was surprised to be on the second row for the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix after hitting the wall twice on his way to fourth place in qualifying.

The RB driver has yet to reach the final part of qualifying in either a full session or sprint event so far this season, but outqualified teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the first time in China last time out. Backing that up with fourth place in sprint qualifying in Miami, Ricciardo says he wasn’t expecting to be so high on the grid after his lap, having touched the wall on multiple occasions during the session.

“I [obviously] feel really good about it,” Ricciardo said. “It was just a good session. The Q1, run one — the first lap — I actually made a mistake so we were putting ourselves under a bit of pressure, but I found a good lap, and then Q2 I think we kind of built up from there.

“All of us… I was speaking to Max [Verstappen] just now and he was saying he was quite surprised to be P1 with his lap, and I was saying with mine I was surprised to be P4. The soft [tire] — I expected a bit more from it, but it didn’t really give that much more than the medium, so I think we were expecting everyone to go a lot quicker, but they didn’t.

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“So happy with the second row; it’s awesome. I touched the wall…both laps as well, so I told the team I was definitely trying to get everything out of it. I don’t know if that made me quicker or not, but we were going for it and I had some good comfort in the car.”

Ricciardo — who has been using a new chassis from China onwards — is confident he can turn the starting position into a point-scoring result on Saturday, and is aiming higher than just holding on in the top eight.

“I’d love to be more than eighth, for sure. I’d love to get a few points from it so we’ll see what happens. I experienced it in Mexico, but just starting at the front, it’s a lot nicer than being 12th, 13th.

“Obviously it’s logical, but just from a Turn 1 [perspective] — first lap, being involved in a bit of chaos, obviously staying a bit cleaner at the front is always like a breath of fresh air. I’m sure the second row will help our cause in getting some points.”

Ricciardo angered by Tsunoda’s ‘immaturity’ after close call

Daniel Ricciardo was left angry by Yuki Tsunoda’s reaction to team orders that nearly saw the Visa Cash App RB drivers collide after the Bahrain Grand Prix. Tsunoda was unhappy that he had been told to let Ricciardo through late in the race, with …

Daniel Ricciardo was left angry by Yuki Tsunoda’s reaction to team orders that nearly saw the Visa Cash App RB drivers collide after the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Tsunoda was unhappy that he had been told to let Ricciardo through late in the race, with his teammate on soft tires and Kevin Magnussen just ahead of the pair in 12th place. Ricciardo failed to make further progress, but on the cool-down lap Tsunoda locked up heavily overtaking the Australian into Turn 8, and then swerved back onto the circuit, coming extremely close to making contact with Ricciardo.

On team radio immediately after the incident, Ricciardo described Tsunoda as a “[expletive] helmet”, but then said he’d save his criticism.

“I don’t know, I came on the radio and was trying to stay cool,” Ricciardo said afterwards. “A bit of immaturity, let’s say that.”

The 34-year-old says the team had already discussed the potential for him to need to be allowed to pass Tsunoda given their difference in strategies.

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“I’m being very sensible right now, but let’s call it immaturity. He’s obviously frustrated with the team orders call. But let’s be real, this is something we talked about before the race. It was very likely I was going to use a soft at the end of the race.

“So he knew that there was a chance that I would have a pace advantage at the end and if he gets the call, then it’s going to happen.

“He’s not giving me points, we’re fighting for 13th, so at least give us the best chance to get at least one car in the points. It’s a long year and we need to make sure we’re all good, so we’ll go back, have a meeting and be very mature about it, and look forward to Jeddah.”

Ricciardo says he would have given Tsunoda the position back at the end of the race too if asked, given the lack of points on offer, but was frustrated that the Japanese driver hadn’t heeded the team order when it was first given.

“Whether I’m 13th or 14th, I don’t know if any driver cares about that but I don’t,” Ricciardo said. “So if the team said let him back by before the finish line, I would’ve done it because it means nothing to me. Unless we’re in the points, who cares?

“I think if you’re in a points position, if he’s letting me by for ninth, he’s tenth or whatever, then you maybe swap again if I can’t get eighth. But in that situation I guess it didn’t matter. So look, it’s race one of 24. Yes, there was a little bit of conflict today, but I don’t want that to set the tone. I think we talk about it now in the briefing, honestly, and hopefully once he’s calmed down, he can say, ‘OK, yeah, I should’ve moved a lap earlier.’”

VCARB ready to tackle challenge of establishing team’s new identity

Visa Cash App RB – the former AlphaTauri team – understands the risks of its rebranding and is establishing a new identity that will be strong, according to CEO Peter Bayer. RB signifies “Racing Bulls” as part of the new company name, while two …

Visa Cash App RB — the former AlphaTauri team — understands the risks of its rebranding and is establishing a new identity that will be strong, according to CEO Peter Bayer.

RB signifies “Racing Bulls” as part of the new company name, while two title sponsors have been secured that form the team name and feature prominently on the livery of the VCARB 01. As the car was launched amid a party in Las Vegas on Thursday night, Bayer says both he and new team principal Laurent Mekies have been overseeing such major changes that he feels it goes hand-in-hand with a new identity.

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“That’s obviously a risk [to lose the team’s identity], but we’re not only changing the name and putting a couple of logos on our jackets,” Bayer told RACER.

“Laurent and myself have been shaking the tree, literally, and there have been a lot of people joining the team, a lot of investment going on with the new performance center in the UK, we have a new lineup of drivers that is a little bit different to the past — one very experienced driver with an up-and-coming but established driver now — so there are a lot of things happening which are adding on to that identity that we’re trying to establish.

“Ultimately the bull and the RB is the solid bit which will always remain, but obviously I’m hoping that we will be a long time with Visa and Cash App, and that they will also contribute to that identity. I’ve seen at many events, there’s always pros and cons of naming rights partners, that people might be afraid that you’re off selling part of your identity, but I honestly don’t think that’s the case here.

“There’s only 10 Formula 1 teams in the world, and people definitely know that we are one of them. With all the things we do to establish a strong identity I am sure that we will soon be perceived as VCARB, [and] on the grid as one of the competitors that wants to fight for the top of the midfield and has a great lineup.

“But we’re also combining everything we do with a bit of fun and entertainment and music. We want to push the boundaries in Formula 1, and that’s what people will really remember.”

Despite the RB part of the title, Bayer explains why Racing Bulls was selected without being overly present in the team name, and is happy for fans to use the VCARB acronym.

“We said last year — and that was one of the objectives set by the shareholders — we should move closer again to the Red Bull family. So we wanted to have the bull back on the car, back on the team kit, and RB really is an homage to Red Bull.

“Yes, we have the company name ‘Racing Bulls’ which also has a bit of a history — which maybe was confusing people, but it’s coming back to the Red Bull group has different activities. One of them is the airplanes, the collection that Mr. [Dietrich] Mateschitz had, and they call them the Flying Bulls.

“So we needed to find a company name that works without any sponsors, because this time around we had to change everything — from one call to the next, to the fiscal offices, to every single supplier — and we had to change company names and registration numbers; it was a huge effort. To avoid that in the future if our sponsors might change, we wanted to have something neutral which is the Racing Bulls S.p.a. That’s the name of the business in Italy.

“The team identity is Visa Cash App RB Formula 1 Team. As one of the guys from Visa said, it is a mouthful, but the truth is Visa is one of the biggest brands in the world, Cash App is the most downloaded financial app in the U.S., they’re on a big growth curve, and they’re two amazing partners.

“Ultimately, yes we have that relationship with Red Bull which is very important to us. But the truth is also that internally we call ourselves VCARB so I would be happy if our fans would go along with us and support Visa Cash App RB F1 Team as VCARB.”