The defending Constructors champions took to the Big Apple to unveil their livery for the 2023 Formula 1 season.
But that was not all.
Red Bull Racing shared their design for the upcoming season at a live event in New York City that featured two-time Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen, teammates Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, and Team Principal Christian Horner. During the hour-long event, the team also featured other athletes in the Red Bull fold, including snowboarder Zeb Powell, skier Eileen Gu, fencer Miles Chamley-Watson, and skateboarder Leticia Bufoni.
Ricciardo discussed his return to Red Bull, after spending the past few seasons with Renault and McLaren. He talked about the nostalgia about returning to the fold, and how he was “envious” of Red Bull’s success last year, as the team secured their first Constructors’ Championship since 2013.
Both Perez and Verstappen talked about the growth of F1 in the United States, and the three races in the States during the upcoming year. According to Perez, the support for Red Bull is “growing so much” in the United States, and the team is “becoming the favorite team of this country.” Verstappen outlined how the United States is “very important” to the team, and that Red Bull is “very optimistic” for the upcoming year.
Horner was asked about maintaining “harmony” in the organization by ESPN’s Marty Smith, who co-hosted the event. The Team Principal talked about how lucky the organization is to have both Perez and Verstappen, and called them the “best pairing we’ve ever had in Formula 1.”
The question was likely a nod to last season’s tension between the two drivers at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix, when Verstappen ignored a team order to let Perez pass at the end of the race.
For Horner, the team has gone from “being the hunter to the hunted.” But he seems to relish the challenge. “Everybody at the factory is pushing full-out … it’s going to be nine months traveling around the world … it’s going to be an incredibly competitive year this year.”
However, the big moment was when the team debuted their look for the upcoming season. It was time to raise the curtain on their RB19:
The RB19 has the look and feel of some of Red Bull’s classic designs, with black as the main color for the car.
Red Bull’s season launch was not the only big news in the F1 world on Friday, nor was it the only big news from the team. Earlier in the morning, Ford announced that they would be returning to Formula 1 for the 2026 season.
In a partnership with Red Bull.
At the end of the event, the partnership was announced. Ford President and CEO Jim Farley joined Horner on stage to announce the partnership. “Ford is going to return to Formula 1 after 20 years” Farley said. “We wanted to go in a direction that’s authentic to us … we’ve decided to have a strategic and technical partnership with Red Bull for 2026 … it’s a big deal for us.”
For Horner, he called the partnership “tremendously exciting,” and a “big moment” for Red Bull Racing. Under the agreement, Ford will be supplying the power units for both Red Bull and AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s racing partner.
“The numbers globally are enormous for Formula One,” Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, told The Associated Press. “Especially in the United States, where the growth and diversity of the fans is enormous. That’s important for us. We don’t want to just race and learn technology. We need to do that. We must do that. But we also must be able to connect with fans. With Red Bull and AlphaTauri, that’s exactly what we will be able to do.”
