Red Bull and Racing Bulls became the first F1 teams on January 16 to showcase their 2026 liveries. However, the new look liveries featured on show cars and not the actual cars that will race in the 2026 season.
Racing Bulls take to the track at Imola for shakedown
Racing Bulls ended the mystery today in Imola as their 2026 car, the VCARB-03, featured on a race track for the shakedown.
The run marked their shakedown on the Imola track. A mandated 15-kilometer feature, the VCARB-03 will return for a longer run on Wednesday. Liam Lawson was the driver behind the wheel for the ‘demonstration’ run on Tuesday, Race.com reported. The New Zealander, unfortunately, could not risk going full steam as rainy conditions dictated the use of wet tyres.
The car features Red Bull Powertrains’ (RBPT) first-ever engine. RBPT is the engine manufacturing division of the Red Bull Racing team, built in partnership with Ford. It also marks the end of Red Bull’s partnership with Honda. The Japanese automaker built engines for the Milton Keynes-based outfit from 2019 through 2025.
Racing Bulls VCARB-03 design element that stood out at shakedown
F1 teams have lately settled on a few airbox designs, ranging from circular to oblong, and Ferrari’s distinct triangular shape. Racing Bulls have decided to innovate on this front as well and the shape of the airbox itself became one of the biggest talking points.
The airbox features an inverse-trapezoidal shape. This distinct design philosophy quickly reminded the lifelong fans of the Williams of 1989/99. Named the FW-13, while it did not feature an inverse trapezoidal-shaped airbox, the unique horizontally oblong oval airbox is what stood out.
Another fresh F1 driver lineup
Red Bull’s inability to settle on a driver lineup has carried over to the 2026 season. After another season of chaos in the shuffle and reshuffle between the Red Bull and Racing Bulls drivers, Yuki Tsunoda has been forced to sit this one out.
As the Japanese driver warms the bench, the latest to join the ranks is Arvid Lindblad. The Briton will race alongside Lawson for Racing Bulls, while Isack Hadjar earns a promotion to Red Bull, replacing Tsunoda to race with Max Verstappen.
Hadjar finished the 2025 F1 season 12th in the drivers’ standings with a podium at the Dutch GP. Meanwhile, Lindblad secured two wins, four podiums and finished sixth in the 2025 F2 season. It would be interesting to see how the Briton will fare in an F1 car under the new set of regulations.
