Red Bull Racing skips RB17: “There will never be an RB17”

For the 2021 season, the teams can focus on a number of parts. Because of the pandemic it has been decided to change as little as possible to the cars, so many parts of the RB16 will be transferred to the RB16B. It will be more of an upgrade of the old car, according to Christian Horner.

The RB16B

''It's the first time for us to bring a chassis to the next season, and because of the regulations a lot of parts will go with it. That is why it is more honest to call this car the RB16B. The next model for 2022 will be the RB18, so there will never be an RB17," Horner told Auto, Motor und Sport.

Still, don't expect exactly the same car from Red Bull as in 2020. ''If you give them room to change something, they will. Every detail will be further optimised, but the rules have limited this somewhat."

Red Bull economical with money

Big changes are planned for 2022, when the new technical regulations come into force and Adrian Newey and his team will have to design a completely new car. That is normally a big challenge, but Red Bull, like all its competitors, will have to do this for the first time within the guidelines of a budget cap.

''It's hard enough to make the leap to 2022, but the budget cap has made it harder for Mercedes, Ferrari and us. You have to be very frugal with your money. You can't just run two programmes for 2021 and 2022 side by side. It will be interesting to see what kind of strategies teams choose, because the effect will be clearly visible in 2022. Everyone is starting from scratch'', concludes the Red Bull Racing team principal.