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The Red Bull RB12 was a car designed by Red Bull Racing for the 2016 Formula One season. Their drivers were Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, with Daniil Kvyat having done the first four races before being replaced by Verstappen.

Their livery was unveiled on 17th February 2016, and their car was unveiled on 22 February. They race with the rebranded Renault engine as TAG Heuer.

Season review[]

In the season opener of 2016 in Australia, Ricciardo qualified 8th and Kvyat 18th. However, in the race, Kvyat failed to make it to the start, and Ricciardo went on to finish 4th, and set the fastest lap of the race.

Before the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, the team announced that, after a double-collision with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in Russia, Daniil Kvyat was demoted back to their junior team, Toro Rosso, for the rest of the season, and he was replaced by Max Verstappen. Team principal Christian Horner explained the driver swap with Verstappen's talent, saying that the 18-year-old Dutchman and Daniel Ricciardo had the potential to become F1's best driver pairing and help Kvyat "regain his form" at Toro Rosso. Verstappen eventually went on to win the race, becoming the youngest race winner in Formula One history.

At the next race in Monaco, Red Bull made an engine upgrade to their Renault. Ricciardo set pole position in qualifying, while Verstappen crashed in the Swimming Pool chicane during the first qualifying session. However, Ricciardo unfortunately lost out a possible victory due to a midcommunication at his pit stop for dry tyres. Meanwhile, Verstappen crashed out again from the race, this time crashing out at Massenet.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, both Red Bulls split up the Ferraris in qualifying. In the race, Verstappen was under pressure from Mercedes' Nico Rosberg in the final laps, but as Rosberg made a mistake in the final chicane, Verstappen finished fourth and ahead of him. Ricciardo could only manage a seventh place.

In the European Grand Prix, Ricciardo qualified third, meanwhile Verstappen could only manage a disappointing 9th place. Ricciardo ended up finishing 7th, ahead of his team-mate who finished 8th.

A few races coming to the summer break were with some great results: 2nd place from Verstappen in both Austria and Britain, 3rd place from Ricciardo at Hungary and a double podium at Germany, with Ricciardo in 2nd and Verstappen 3rd.

Verstappen was the first Dutch driver to start on the front row at the Belgian Grand Prix. However, he could not impress throughout the race, and finished outside the points. His teammate Ricciardo eventually went on to finish 2nd.

In Singapore, Ricciardo qualified on the front row, with Verstappen qualifying 4th. Ricciardo eventually finished on the podium, meanwhile Verstappen could only finish sixth.

At Malaysia, Red Bull set their first one-two finish of the season for the first time since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Ricciardo winning the race and Verstappen finishing second, earning him the "Driver of the Day" award.

Both Red Bulls qualified on the third row at the Japanese Grand Prix, but as both Ferrari cars were penalized, they started on the second row of the grid. Ricciardo ended up finishing behind both Ferraris in sixth, meanwhile Verstappen finished second in the race, ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. The result earned Verstappen another "Driver of the Day" award.

At the Brazilian Grand Prix, when the race started under safety car conditions, Verstappen passed Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen at the end of the first safety car period. On the 40th and 43rd lap of the race, the team pitted both Ricciardo and Verstappen respectively for intermediate tyres, but on the 52nd and 54th lap, the team had to bring both Ricciardo and Verstappen to the pits for wet tyres due to that the weather condition started to deteriorate. Verstappen was falling behind to 16th after the pitstop, but with 16 laps to go, Verstappen climbed up to a possible podium shoot-out. On lap 69, Verstappen had a battle with Force India's Sergio Pérez between Turn 11 and Turn 12. As Verstappen was round the outside of Turn 11, his car started to slide, but he managed to save it and then overtook the Mexican in a stunning way. This put Verstappen up to third place, earning him a comparison to Senna and Schumacher and receiving praise from Christian Horner, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda.

Red Bull finished second in the Constructors' Championship with 468 points.

Race Victories[]

Event Driver
1 Spanish Grand Prix Netherlands Max Verstappen
2 Malaysian Grand Prix Australia Daniel Ricciardo

Complete Formula One Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year Driver Tyre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
2016 Flag of Australia Flag of Bahrain Flag of China Flag of Russia Flag of Spain Flag of Monaco Flag of Canada Flag of Europe Flag of Austria Flag of Great Britain Flag of Hungary Flag of Germany Flag of Belgium Flag of Italy Flag of Singapore Flag of Malaysia Flag of Japan Flag of the United States Flag of Mexico Flag of Brazil Flag of the United Arab Emirates
Australia Ricciardo P 4th 4th 4th 11th 4th 2nd 7th 7th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd 5th 2nd 1st 6th 3rd 3rd 8th 5th
Russia Kvyat DNS 7th 3rd 15th
Netherlands Verstappen 1st Ret 4th 8th 2nd 2nd 5th 3rd 11th 7th 6th 2nd 2nd Ret 4th 3rd 4th

Notes[]

V T E Red Bull Red Bull Racing
Drivers
1. Netherlands Max Verstappen · 11. Mexico Sergio Pérez
Personnel
Christian Horner · Adrian Newey · Dietrich Mateschitz · Helmut Marko
Former drivers
Mark Webber · David Coulthard · Scott Speed · Robert Doornbos · Vitantonio Liuzzi · Christian Klien · Sebastian Vettel · Daniil Kvyat · Daniel Ricciardo · Pierre Gasly · Alexander Albon
World Champions
Sebastian Vettel (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) · Max Verstappen (2021, 2022, 2023)
Cars
RB1 · RB2 · RB3 · RB4 · RB5 · RB6 · RB7 · RB8 · RB9 · RB10 · RB11 · RB12 · RB13 · RB14 · RB15 · RB16 · RB16B · RB18 · RB19
See also
Toro Rosso · AlphaTauri · Red Bull Ring
Full Results
V T E 2016 Formula One Season
Teams Ferrari • Force India • Haas • Manor • McLaren • Mercedes • Red Bull • Renault • Sauber • Toro Rosso • Williams
Engines Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • TAG Heuer
Drivers alphabetically Alonso • Bottas • Button • Ericsson • Grosjean • Gutiérrez • Hamilton • Haryanto • Hülkenberg • Kvyat • Magnussen • Massa • Nasr • Ocon • Palmer • Pérez • Räikkönen • Ricciardo • Rosberg • Sainz • Vandoorne  • Verstappen • Vettel • Wehrlein
Drivers by number Ricciardo • 5 Vettel • 6 Rosberg • 7 Räikkönen • 8 Grosjean • 9 Ericsson • 11 Pérez • 12 Nasr • 14 Alonso • 19 Massa • 20 Magnussen • 21 Gutiérrez • 22 Button • 26 Kvyat • 27 Hülkenberg • 30 Palmer • 31 Ocon • 33 Verstappen • 44 Hamilton • 47 Vandoorne  • 55 Sainz • 77 Bottas • 88 Haryanto • 94 Wehrlein
Other Drivers Celis • di Resta • Fong • Fuoco • Gasly • Jordá • Kari • King • Leclerc • Lynn • Matsushita • Mazepin • Paffett • Rossi • Stoneman • Stroll • Turvey • Vergne
Cars Ferrari SF16-H • Force India VJM09 • Haas VF-16 • Manor MRT05 • McLaren MP4-31 • Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid • Red Bull RB12 • Renault RS16 • Sauber C35 • Toro Rosso STR11 • Williams FW38
Tyres Pirelli
Races Australia • Bahrain • China • Russia • Spain • Monaco • Canada • Baku • Austria • Britain • Hungary • Germany • Belgium • Italy • Singapore • Malaysia • Japan • United States • Mexico • Brazil • Abu Dhabi
Tests Paul Ricard • Barcelona: 1 • 2 • 3
See also 2015 Formula One Season • 2017 Formula One Season • Category
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