Red Bull unveil tweaked livery, but new car under wraps until testing
Thursday 18 February 2016 09:22, UK
Red Bull have revealed their new look for the 2016 F1 season as the former champions brace themselves for a "transitional" campaign.
The former world champions, who repeatedly threatened to leave the sport last year as their partnership with Renault disintegrated, revealed their revised car livery at a launch event in London on Wednesday. An old car was used to show off the colour scheme.
"We decided to go for something a bit more innovative and an aggressive feel," said team boss Christian Horner of the new look.
The new RB12 itself is being kept under wraps until Monday and the opening morning of the first winter test at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
After failing to find an alternative supplier, Red Bull will continue to be powered by Renault engines in 2016. However, the engines will carry the branding of watchmaker Tag Heuer, the new sponsor Red Bull have lured from McLaren.
The names of Renault and Infiniti, Red Bull's previous title sponsor and luxury car division of the Renault-Nissan alliance, no longer appear on the team's chassis.
However, Red Bull do retain the same driver line-up for 2016 with Daniel Ricciardo again partnered by Daniil Kvyat.
The nadir of Red Bull's long relationship with Renault came amid their least competitive season so far this decade. For the first time since 2008, the former four-time champions failed to win a race and finished outside the top two in the Constructors' Championship.
Although Renault, who have since bought the Lotus team to revive a works outfit, are expecting improvements from their power unit, Horner has already sought to play down expectations.
"I think the current constitution of performance obviously in a power unit-dominated formula it's a difficult situation if you're not aligned to a competitive power unit at this point in time, so 2016 will be a transitional year for us," said Horner in November.
Red Bull braced for tough start to 2016
The first Barcelona test starts on Monday February 22 and the Sky Sports F1 Digital team will be providing live commentary from dawn until dusk on all four days of both Barcelona tests while Sky Sports News HQ will also deliver live updates from trackside.
