Red Bull RB12
| Industry | Formula One racing team |
|---|---|
Area served | Formula One World Championship |
Key people | Christian Horner (Team principal) |
| Products | Formula One cars (RB12) |
| Website | https://www.redbullracing.com/ |
The Red Bull RB12 is a Formula One race car engineered by Red Bull Racing for competition in the 2016 Formula One season. The drivers were Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, and Max Verstappen, with Verstappen taking over Kvyat’s seat midway through the season—Verstappen moving up from Scuderia Toro Rosso just before the , while Kvyat shifted back to Toro Rosso.
Design
This model was equipped with a customer Renault power unit, which was rebranded as a TAG Heuer following the 2015 split between Red Bull and Renault. Renault had reentered Formula One as a works team after acquiring Lotus. The RB12 marked the last Red Bull car to run on fuel and lubricants supplied by Total, concluding an eight-year collaboration.
Competition history
During the opening round of the 2016 season in Australia, both Ricciardo and Kvyat showed promising pace in practice sessions. However, Kvyat qualified only 18th due to mechanical troubles and was unable to start the race because of an electrical failure. Ricciardo qualified eighth, recorded the fastest lap of the race, and ultimately finished in fourth place.
In Bahrain, under the knockout qualifying system, Kvyat was eliminated in Q2 and began the race from 15th position; Ricciardo secured fifth on the grid, nearly one and a half seconds slower than pole sitter Lewis Hamilton. Kvyat ended seventh after first-lap contact, while Ricciardo finished fourth.
At the Chinese Grand Prix, Ricciardo and Kvyat qualified second and sixth respectively. Ricciardo led early but suffered a left-rear tyre failure on lap three; Kvyat completed the race in third place, with Ricciardo recovering to finish fourth.
During qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was distracted by a loose wing mirror but still managed sixth place, later promoted to fifth following Vettel’s penalty. Kvyat qualified eighth but caused several collisions at the start involving Vettel and Ricciardo, resulting in a ten-second stop-and-go penalty. Both drivers’ races were adversely affected, finishing 11th and 15th respectively.
Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull demoted Kvyat back to Scuderia Toro Rosso, promoting Max Verstappen to their main team. Verstappen qualified fourth while Ricciardo took third. After a first-lap collision between Hamilton and Rosberg, Verstappen employed a two-stop strategy compared to Ricciardo’s three stops. Verstappen won the race, becoming both the youngest winner and first Dutch driver to claim victory in Formula One; Ricciardo finished fourth.
At Monaco, Verstappen crashed during practice and failed to set a qualifying time within the 107% threshold but was permitted to start from the pit lane. Ricciardo earned his maiden pole position. The rain-affected race commenced behind the safety car; Ricciardo established a commanding lead but lost it due to an extended pit stop caused by unavailable tyres, ultimately finishing second behind Hamilton. Verstappen retired after crashing on lap 34.
From the Austrian Grand Prix onward, Red Bull emerged as Mercedes’ primary challenger, regularly competing for wins and podium finishes—except at Italy and Abu Dhabi. Verstappen’s addition intensified intra-team rivalry; Ricciardo acknowledged that adapting to Verstappen’s driving style helped enhance his own performance.
At Malaysia, Red Bull secured their first 1–2 finish since the introduction of V6 hybrid engines—and their first overall since 2013 at the end of the V8 era—after Mercedes drivers encountered difficulties: Rosberg spun early while Hamilton suffered an engine failure while leading. Ricciardo claimed his first victory in over two years; Verstappen finished second. The next Red Bull one-two would not occur until six years later at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the RB18.
In Brazil, Verstappen and Ricciardo qualified fourth and sixth respectively. Despite spinning on the main straight under wet conditions, Verstappen recovered from fifteenth place to finish third. Team principal Christian Horner praised this as "one of the finest drives I've witnessed in Formula 1."
Livery
In the 2016 campaign, Red Bull Racing refreshed its livery by changing the blue shade from a glossy finish to a deep matte hue. The squad maintained sponsorship agreements with Siemens, Pepe Jeans, and Hisense, whereas Casio discontinued its support. Moreover, following the conclusion of the partnership with Infiniti, Aston Martin was introduced as a significant technical collaborator.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (bold results denote pole positions; italicized results signify fastest laps)
| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Template:F1 | Red Bull Racing | TAG Heuer F1-2016 | Template:Pirelli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Template:Country data AUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Template:Country data RUSTemplate:Namespace detect showall Daniil Kvyat | DNS | 7 | 3 | 15 |
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Template:Country data NEDTemplate:Namespace detect showall Max Verstappen | 1 | Ret | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||