The relationship between Red Bull Racing and its junior team, Racing Bulls, has been a hot topic in the world of Formula 1 for some time now. Critics argue that the shared ownership gives an unfair advantage, yet the two teams insist they’re adhering to the rules, working as closely as regulations permit.
The debate heated up in 2025 when both teams migrated to a shared campus in Milton Keynes. A significant part of this controversy stems from the fact that they share a majority of the car’s mechanical parts—front and rear suspension, gearbox, and more. However, the regulations stipulate that the aerodynamic surfaces of each car must remain the independent intellectual property of the respective teams.
If you were to paint all these cars in the same color, it would be a real challenge to distinguish one from the other. The same can be said for the commentators, who would likely struggle to identify which vehicle belonged to which team.
Let’s delve a bit deeper and compare the 2024 Red Bull with the 2025 Racing Bulls. While we’re at it, we’ll also bring in some 2024 Racing Bulls comparisons to add to the mix.
In terms of the front wing, the two teams are reasonably different, as per the regulations. The Racing Bulls have a more consistent leading edge and the wing loading—defined by the trailing edge of the rearmost flap—is slightly further outboard at the inside of the front tire.
The front suspension, a key mechanical aspect of the cars, looks identical between the 2024 Red Bull and 2025 Racing Bulls. This is hardly surprising considering the parts are shared.
Moving on to the radiator inlets, the teams seem to have followed a similar concept. In 2024, Red Bull introduced a ‘Peaky Blinders hat brim’ inlet design, which most teams, including Racing Bulls, adopted.
From the front suspension to the sidepod, the mechanical parts look identical. However, the profile of the sidepod’s undercut significantly differs. There are also minor yet significant differences in the floor fin, designed to manage the turbulent wake coming off the front tire.
The rear suspension layout, and presumably the gearbox—if we could see it—appears identical, or very similar, as expected from shared components.
To sum it up, the shared use of mechanical components from Red Bull has bolstered Racing Bulls’ capacity. This has freed up their design engineers to focus on optimizing the mechanical aspects that remain their responsibility and integrating the aerodynamic surfaces.
As we enter the fourth year of these regulations, and with Racing Bulls utilizing more components from Red Bull than ever before, expectations are high. This should be the most successful year for the Minardi/Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri/RB/Racing Bull lineage. Should it not live up to these expectations, tough questions will inevitably follow.
