What if Crimson Bull solved its second-car downside with a paint job?

The saga surrounding Yuki Tsunoda’s promotion and Liam Lawson’s demotion to Racing Bulls is thus: for years now, round and thru Max Verstappen’s a number of world titles, Crimson Bull has been a one-car Method 1 squad.

Since Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from the height of his F1 profession in 2018, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez and now Lawson have tried and failed to deal with driving a automotive principally organized to go well with the uber-pointy front-end desire of Max Verstappen throughout the Crimson Bull storage. That’s by way of two totally different design guidelines eras.

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Resplendent in one-off white, Tsunoda will begin his try and keep away from becoming a member of that listing at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.

However, from the seriousness of Perez’s incapability to match Verstappen’s factors hauls in 2021 and 2024 costing Crimson Bull two constructors’ championships, a wry statement from throughout the F1 paddock final day out on the Chinese language GP hinted there could be a fast repair for Christian Horner’s squad.

Given Verstappen was suggesting in Shanghai that the Racing Bulls automotive is “simpler to drive than ours”, then why wouldn’t an answer be to color a VCARB 02 to run within the chosen colors of the second Crimson Bull?

Liam Lawson, Crimson Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Group

Photograph by: Crimson Bull Content material Pool

The upsides for Crimson Bull could be clear.

It might think about fettling the RB21 to maintain giving Verstappen the robust entrance finish he desires however cut back the confidence-sapping rear finish snaps that even his prodigious expertise can’t tame once they randomly strike.

On the similar time, whoever is deigned to be Verstappen’s team-mate on any given weekend – he’s about to have a 3rd in simply 4 grands prix, since Abu Dhabi final yr – would get to drive the extra compliant Racing Bulls bundle, with its barely larger journey top often making it simpler to drive.

There’s even historic F1 examples of groups fielding very totally different automotive specs – from the low- and high-downforce Crimson Bull RB20 packages Perez and Verstappen have been respectively operating eventually yr’s Hungarian GP, to McLaren getting into its common M7A automobiles (organized in three totally different specs) in addition to the one-off four-wheel drive M9A on the 1969 British GP.

Clearly, this being the relentlessly actual trendy world, Crimson Bull’s F1 rivals would object to such a gambit because the championship has lengthy moved on from this being allowed.

They might have the authorized foundation to cease this plan in its tracks (which doesn’t cease it being an intriguing dialogue in a sphere as intricate and engaging as motorsport).

The primary rule such an try would fall afoul of is Article 17.3 (and its many sub-categories) of F1’s technical rules, which covers “Listed Group Elements” (LTC). This limits groups to including particular elements (together with all aerodynamic surfaces) to their automobiles for in-competition use that they’ve designed themselves.

Then there’s additionally rule Article 17.5 on Transferable Elements (TRC), which covers elements that groups can construct after which promote to others.

That is significantly pertinent to the Crimson Bull/Racing Bulls state of affairs given they share many mechanical elements – together with suspension for each entrance and rear axles, plus gearboxes.

Max Verstappen, Crimson Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Group

Photograph by: Crimson Bull Content material Pool

F1’s technical guidelines additionally embrace Commonplace Provide Elements (SSC) and Open Supply Elements (OSC) elements provide that cowl particular (and customarily not performance-influencing) parts of automobiles which might be outsourced in manufacturing phrases to suppliers. This will embrace different squads.

Though such guidelines have been tweaked through the years – primarily round Haas’s arrival as an F1 competitor utilizing as many listed elements produced by Ferrari as permitted again in 2016 – Crimson Bull is definitely the principle motive why guidelines that ban buyer automobiles exist within the first place.

Since late 2005, Crimson Bull has owned each its eponymous squad and its many-named junior workforce, which led to the complicated outlawing of two groups operating near-identical designs again in 2010.

As a kicker, F1’s guidelines (Article 17.2.4 and 17.2.6 of the 2025 technical rules) even prohibit Crimson Bull transferring workers between its two squads to share any concepts.

And Crimson Bull couldn’t even use footage, scans or video footage to duplicate Racing Bulls’s compliant bundle for one automotive – it must expend its personal assets conducting the analysis behind such designs.

In the fee cap period, that’s tougher than ever and, actually, a headache Crimson Bull might do with out because it continues its self-set activity of offering Verstappen with a automotive to go well with his genius wants that doesn’t destroy the probabilities of his team-mate. And, proper now, that doesn’t even add as much as the quickest automotive for only one Crimson Bull driver…