Secret photos hint at cause of Red Bull testing problem and unseen RB21 upgrades

Secretive photographs have offered a clue into Red Bull’s problem in Thursday’s F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Liam Lawson’s RB21 caused a commotion when it returned to the garage but the exact issue was unclear.

However, F1 tech expert Sam Collins thinks he has uncovered the truth.

“I have been spending a lot of time staring at a lot of photos of the Red Bull,” he said on Sky Sports.

“At the end of [Wednesday] I felt like they didn’t understand the car. If someone came to me and said ‘that’s the car they raced at the end of last year’, I would struggle to disagree.

“However, I have heard on the grapevine that the issue Red Bull faced earlier on was a water pressure issue."

Photos offer clue about Red Bull RB21

“I have seen some photos," Collins continued. "Unfortunately I can’t share them with you.

“But the photos I’ve seen make it clear what’s different about this year’s Red Bull.

“While it looks really similar, on the skin, Christian Horner says it’s 99% new and every surface is different.

“That’s absolutely right - the more you look at the photos, the more you see the little differences on the car.

“Every shape is slightly different.

“A producer yesterday pointed out the angle of the front wing endplates is slightly more inward-facing, they point toward the nose more than they did in Abu Dhabi last year.

“The concept is the same - the pull rod front suspension, the push rod rear.

“That’s a concept that is moving towards being universal for this generation of cars. Unless you speak Italian and you live in Maranello where they chose to do something different.

“Even Mercedes would have evolved towards that concept if these rules stayed in place longer.

“Everybody copied Red Bull’s sidepod concept. You can see the protruding upper edge, the vertical cooling slot, the horizontal cooling slot. That’s a pure Red Bull design.

“But where the big differences are with the Red Bull are underneath the bodywork.

“The water pressure is, I think, relates to the fact that they are running a completely new cooling system on the car.

“They have moved the radiators and heat exchanges around.

“On the sidepods is a distinctive horizontal V-shape which I first saw on Ferrari-powered cars in 2016.

“That concept has carried through to this Red Bull after many years of not really being present in Formula 1.

“So the water pressure issue, with a new cooling system, probably suggests something might not be designed right, or maybe a bit of pipework is chafing, or it’s not as well manufactured as it should be.

“Or could it be the age-old problem of finger trouble, where somebody hasn’t bolted something on as tightly as they should have.

“That’s why you go testing - to find these problems.

“But the car concept itself looks similar to last year.

“The aerodynamic brain power of Red Bull would have been dedicated to this car until January 2. They were not allowed to work on the 2026 car until that date.

“After that date? I don’t know how much goes into next year’s Red Bull, and how much goes into this year’s Red Bull and its cooling system.”

At first glance, the RB21 which broke cover in 2025 did not appear to look significantly different to its predecessor.

But Red Bull boss Horner has pointed out that last year’s car won more races than anybody despite the team conceding the constructors’ championship to McLaren.

Now with Lawson racing instead of Sergio Perez, Red Bull hope their new driver can make a difference.

Max Verstappen was unable to offer much feedback (he did not drive in testing until Thursday) but his desire will be for a car which is less unpredictable than last year’s RB20.

Verstappen is gunning for a fifth drivers’ title in a row.