Red Bull RB12

The Red Bull RB12 is a Formula One racing car designed by Red Bull Racing to compete in the 2016 Formula One season. The car was driven by Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen, the lattermost of whom swapped with Kvyat mid-season, moving from Scuderia Toro Rosso to Red Bull while Kvyat moved to Toro Rosso ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.[1] The car appears to be quite similar to its predecessor, the Red Bull RB11, while sporting a new livery introduced before the start of the season. The car used a Renault engine re-badged as a TAG Heuer following the breakdown in the relationship between Red Bull and Renault in 2015. This was the last Red Bull car with fuel and lubricants from Total — ending their eight-year partnership.

Red Bull RB12
The Red Bull RB12, driven by Max Verstappen, during the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorRed Bull
Designer(s)
PredecessorRed Bull RB11
SuccessorRed Bull RB13
Technical specifications
ChassisComposite monocoque structure, designed and built in-house, carrying the TAG Heuer Power Unit as fully stressed member.
Suspension (front)Aluminium alloy uprights, carbon fibre composite double wishbones with pushrods, springs, anti-roll bar and dampers
Suspension (rear)Same as front
EngineRenault R.E.16 (rebadged as TAG Heuer) 1.6 L (98 cu in) direct injection V6 turbocharged engine, limited to 15,000 rpm in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout
Electric motorKinetic and thermal energy recovery systems
TransmissionSequential shift gearbox with eight forward and one reverse gears
BatteryLithium-ion batteries
FuelTotal
BrakesBrembo calipers Friction material; carbon/carbon composite discs and pads
TyresPirelli P Zero (dry) tyres
Pirelli Cinturato (wet) tyres
O.Z. RacingOZ Racing, Front: 12.0in x 13in diam., Rear: 13.7in x 13in diam.
Competition history
Notable entrantsRed Bull Racing
Notable drivers3. Daniel Ricciardo
26. Daniil Kvyat
33. Max Verstappen
Debut2016 Australian Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF.Laps
2121615

Competition history
Daniel Ricciardo (front) and Daniil Kvyat at the Bahrain Grand Prix

In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, both Kvyat and Ricciardo performed well in all three practice sessions. In qualifying, Kvyat qualified a disappointing 18th following mechanical problems with his car, and Ricciardo went on to qualify 8th. In the race, Kvyat failed to start the race due to an electrical problem, meanwhile Ricciardo set the fastest lap and went on to finish the race in fourth.

In the Bahrain Grand Prix, under the short lived knock out style qualification format,[2] Kvyat was the first to be knocked out of Q2, thus starting in 15th. Ricciardo made it to Q3 and qualified in 5th, almost one and a half seconds behind pole sitter Lewis Hamilton. During the race, Kvyat had contact with Nico Hülkenberg on the first lap but was able to finish 7th, one lap behind winner Nico Rosberg. Ricciardo finished 4th, over a minute behind Rosberg.

In the Chinese Grand Prix, after a return to the normal qualifying format, Ricciardo and Kvyat qualified 2nd and 6th respectively. During the race, Ricciardo charged off the line to take the lead of the race from Rosberg. Kvyat charged up the inside of Sebastian Vettel in turn one, causing him to collide with Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen. Ricciardo kept the lead until his left-rear tyre failed during lap 3 on the long straight between turns 13 and 14. Kvyat climbed his way to a 3rd-place finish, while Ricciardo had a great recovery drive to secure 4th.[3]

While in Q2 of the Russian Grand Prix, Ricciardo's wing mirror came free of its mount, and appeared to be held on by wiring alone. The mirror bounced into and out of the cockpit, causing quite a bit of distraction. Regardless of the distraction, Ricciardo moved onto Q3 and qualified 6th, but was elevated to 5th due to a five-place grid penalty assessed to Vettel for a change of his gearbox.[4] Kvyat, after barely making it into Q3, was able to qualify 8th. At the start of the race, Kvyat struck the rear of Vettel's Ferrari SF16-H braking for turn one, sending him into Ricciardo, causing all three cars damage. Then, during the long left handed turn three, Kvyat struck Vettel again from behind, sending Vettel into the outside wall at great speed. Kvyat was assessed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the contact with Vettel. Both Kvyat and Ricciardo's races were ruined by the first lap incidents. Ricciardo was able to finish 11th, while Kvyat only managed to finish 15th.[5]

Max Verstappen won on his debut with the team at the Spanish Grand Prix.

In the week leading up to the Spanish Grand Prix, Kvyat was relegated back to Scuderia Toro Rosso for the rest of the season,[6] while Verstappen was promoted in his place to Red Bull Racing. Verstappen qualified 4th, half of a second slower than Ricciardo, who qualified 3rd. On the first lap of the race, exiting the long right handed turn three, Hamilton and Rosberg collided, causing both to exit the race with damage. A safety car was deployed, with Ricciardo leading the race with Verstappen right behind him. Ricciardo went with a safer three stop strategy, while Verstappen went onto the riskier two stop strategy. At the end of the different strategies, Ricciardo finished 4th, while Verstappen was able to stay out ahead of the two Ferrari drivers, making him the youngest ever race winner and first Dutch race winner in Formula One.[7]

In the 3rd practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen had a small crash into the outside barrier of turn three. In Q1, Verstappen clipped the inside barrier in turn fifteen with his front right tire, breaking the steering linkage, pitching the car into the outside barrier of turn sixteen. Ricciardo qualified 1st, securing his first ever pole position, three-tenths of a second faster than 2nd place Rosberg.[8] Verstappen had to apply to the stewards for permission to start the race because he failed to set a qualifying time within the 107% rule. Verstappen elected to start the race from pit lane in front of Felipe Nasr, who also failed to set a time within the 107% rule.[9] The race started behind the safety car due to wet conditions. After the safety car came in, Ricciardo was able to build a thirteen second gap ahead of Hamilton. Ricciardo came into the pits to switch to intermediate tyres, while Hamilton stayed on the extreme wet weather tyres. Ricciardo was able to reduce the gap to Hamilton to half of a second. Hamilton pitted for dry weather tyres, with Ricciardo following suit the next lap, lap 31. Ricciardo's pit crew did not have tyres ready to put onto his car, resulting in a very long stop, narrowly handing the lead to Hamilton.[10] Ricciardo finished the race in 2nd. After the start of the race, Verstappen was able to fight his way into the top ten. On lap 34, Verstappen crashed into the barriers, retiring himself from the race.

Since the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix, the team replaced Ferrari as the best of the rest behind Mercedes, often challenging Mercedes for race victories and finished on the podium at every race except Italy and Abu Dhabi. This was partly due to Verstappen's arrival at the team in Spain which caused Ricciardo to be pushed much more by Verstappen than he was by Kvyat, Ricciardo stating he has learnt from Verstappen's driving techniques in order to improve as a driver. At the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, the team achieved their first 1-2 in the V6 hybrid era, the first time it has happened since 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix, the last race of the V8 era. This came after both Mercedes drivers encountered issues throughout the race: Nico Rosberg was spun at the start of the race, while Hamilton suffered a dramatic explosion of his Mercedes engine whilst leading comfortably. Therefore, Ricciardo was able to achieve his first race win in more than 2 years, while Verstappen came in 2nd.

At the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen and Ricciardo qualified fourth and sixth respectively.[11] In a rain inflicted race, Verstappen barely managed to avoid hitting the guardrail when he spun on the main straight. After an additional tyre change from intermediates back to rain tyres, he ran in 15th place with just 16 laps remaining. He then made several overtakes in the closing laps to eventually finish on the podium in third place.[12] He received considerable praise for his performance, with his team principal Christian Horner calling it "one of the best drives I've seen in Formula 1".[13]

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers Grands Prix Points WCC
AUS BHR CHN RUS ESP MON CAN EUR AUT GBR HUN GER BEL ITA SIN MAL JPN USA MEX BRA ABU
2016 Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer P
Daniel Ricciardo 4 4 4 11 4 2 7 7 5 4 3 2 2 5 2 1 6 3 3 8 5 468 2nd
Daniil Kvyat DNS 7 3 15
Max Verstappen 1 Ret 4 8 2 2 5 3 11 7 6 2 2 Ret 4 3 4

References
  1. "2016 Final F1 Entry List". fia.com. FIA. Archived from the original on 19 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  2. "FIA ANNOUNCES WORLD MOTOR SPORT COUNCIL DECISIONS". fia.com. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  3. "Lewis Hamilton bids to recover in Chinese Grand Prix - BBC Sport". bbc.com. 17 April 2016. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  4. "Vettel receives five place grid drop". speedcafe.com. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  5. "F1: Russian Grand Prix – as it happened - Sport - The Guardian". theguardian.com. 1 May 2016. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  6. "Kvyat still struggling to fathom departure from Red Bull - Auto Racing". ap.org. 15 May 2016. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  7. "Verstappen becomes youngest F1 winner after Mercedes crash - Auto Racing". ap.org. 15 May 2016. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  8. "Ricciardo all smiles at Monaco GP, Hamilton's woes continue". ap.org. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  9. "Verstappen and Nasr to start from pit lane". formula1.com. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  10. "Lewis Hamilton wins Monaco GP after Red Bull pit-stop agony – as it happened - Les Roopanarine - Sport - The Guardian". theguardian.com. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  11. "Formula 1 Grande Premio do Brasil 2016 - Qualifying". formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  12. Galloway, James (14 November 2016). "Max Verstappen stole the show in Brazil GP, says Mercedes' Toto Wolff". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  13. Gill, Pete; Esler, William (14 November 2016). "Max Verstappen's Brazilian GP drive hailed as 'one of the best ever in F1'". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
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