Racing Bulls 2025 car, the VCARB02, has drawn inspiration from Red Bull’s RB20 with a report in Italy claiming the new car has been homologated to accommodate the RB20’s ‘front suspension and shark-mouth sidepods’.

Showing sporadic form last season, Red Bull’s junior team made the call to update the rear of the car for the final three races, taking on components from Red Bull’s RB20.

Racing Bulls using ‘same design’ as ‘big sister Red Bull’

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock and Thomas Maher

For the final triple-header of the campaign, Racing Bulls incorporated the rear suspension and gearbox of the RB20, a similar move to 2023 when they also ran current Red Bull late in the season.

“It’s a new rear suspension, so it gives us both an aerodynamic update and a mechanical update – so it should improve lap time,” racing director Alan Permane told media including PlanetF1.com, before confirming that this new suspension would be the “full Red Bull spec”.

According to autoracer.it, Red Bull’s junior team has also incorporated the rear suspension and gearbox into this year’s VCARB02 project along with the RB20’s ‘shark-mouth sidepods’.

Racing Bulls haven’t stopped there, though.

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‘The VCARB02 will have the now famous inverted L-shaped cooling inlet, with a horizontal and a vertical intake connected only internally. This is the same design used by their ‘big’ sister Red Bull in 2024,’ claimed the Italian publication.

‘RB’s 2025 car will see a very different front wing compared to last season, an evolution of the specification introduced in Abu Dhabi. Changing this component is necessary to optimise airflow through the car body and the new shark-mouth sidepods.’

The team will shakedown their F1 2025 car at Imola on February 17 in a filming day with Yuki Tsunoda and new signing Isack Hadjar behind the wheel before drivers head to London for Formula 1’s official group launch at the Q2 Area. That takes place on February 18.

Drawing on Red Bull’s RB20, even though all the parts Racing Bulls are taking are within the regulations, is likely to once again spark complaints from rival teams about Red Bull having an “A/B team and co-ownership”, as Zak Brown put it last night.

It’s criticism though, that Racing Bulls’ CEO Peter Bayer shrugged off when speaking with PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher.

“Honestly, they don’t irritate me because, having spent enough time at the FIA, I know how other teams collaborate,” he said, referring to his time as the FIA’s secretary general and F1 executive director.

“I said the other day, I think I can say it again – I know for certain that Ferrari and Haas work closer than Red Bull Racing and us. I understand that it’s a cutthroat competition. Everybody’s trying to throw stones into the path of the other one.

“But, if you just look, take a step back and listen to our drivers and the engineers – listen to the feedback. You will hear that our car, it’s a different car. It’s simply not a copy. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be where we are in the first place.”

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