The Racing Bull works better, but Red Bull simply cannot copy its sister team – Why the double team structure is both a curse and a blessing.
The saga surrounding Yuki Tsunoda’s promotion to Red Bull and Liam Lawson’s demotion to Racing Bulls boils down to a simple fact: for years – during and between Max Verstappen’s multiple world championship titles – Red Bull was effectively a one-car team in Formula 1.
Since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull in 2018, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez and now Lawson have tried in vain to cope with a car that is primarily designed for Verstappen’s preference for an extremely pointed front. This applies across two different sets of rules.
This weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, Tsunoda will start his attempt not to end up on that list. There could be a quick solution for Christian Horner’s team. Since Verstappen hinted in Shanghai that the Racing Bulls car “is easier to drive than ours”, why not just paint a VCARB 02 in the colors of the second Red Bull?
Swap second car: It would be too easy…
The advantages for Red Bull would be obvious. They could continue to focus on optimizing the RB21 to provide Verstappen with the strong front end he needs, but at the same time reduce the unstable rear end blowouts that even his extraordinary talent cannot always control.
At the same time, his teammate – whoever that is on any given race weekend (Verstappen will soon have his third in just four races since Abu Dhabi 2024) – could make use of the more drivable Racing Bulls package, which on average benefits from a slightly higher ride height.
In Formula One history, there are even examples of teams running very different specifications for their cars. Think of the low- and high-downforce configurations of the Red Bull RB20 that Perez and Verstappen drove in the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.
Or in the 1969 British Grand Prix, when McLaren used both the regular M7A cars (in three different specifications) and the four-wheel-drive M9A.
Of course, in the modern reality of Formula 1, Red Bull’s competitors would protest against such a maneuver, as the regulations have long since banned such practices. They would have the legal basis to stop this plan.
But that doesn’t change the fact that it is an interesting discussion in a sport as complex and fascinating as motorsport. The main rule that such an attempt would violate can be found in Article 17.3 of the technical regulations, which deals with “Listed Team Components” (LTC).
This rule restricts teams to only using certain parts (including all aero surfaces) on their cars that they have designed themselves.
Why Red Bull can’t just copy
Then there is Article 17.5 on “Transferable Components” (TRC), which deals with parts that teams can build themselves and then sell to others. This is particularly relevant for Red Bull/Racing Bulls, as they share many mechanical components – front and rear axle suspension and gearbox.
The technical regulations of Formula One also include “Standard Supply Components” (SSC) and “Open Source Components” (OSC), which refer to certain (and generally non-performance-influencing) components produced by external suppliers. These can also come from other teams.
These rules have been adjusted over the years, especially when Haas entered Formula One in 2016, when the team used as many components produced by Ferrari as it was allowed to. However, Red Bull is the main reason why there are rules at all that prohibit pure customer cars.
Since the end of 2005, Red Bull has owned both the main team and the junior team, which has been repeatedly renamed. This led to the banning of almost identical designs for two teams in 2010. In addition, the Formula 1 rules (Articles 17.2.4 and 17.2.6 of the 2025 technical regulations) prohibit Red Bull employees from moving between the two teams to exchange ideas.
And Red Bull wouldn’t even be able to use pictures, scans or video footage to recreate the more drivable Racing Bulls design – it would have to spend its own resources on research to develop these concepts itself.
In times of budget caps, this is more difficult than ever and a problem that Red Bull would rather avoid. After all, the team has to focus on providing Verstappen with a car that matches his unique talent, without completely destroying his teammate’s chances at the same time.
Currently, this does not lead to the fastest car – for any of the Red Bull drivers…
