P1 with Matt and Tommy Jan 16, 2026

Our reaction to the Red Bull & VCARB F1 car launches

Annotations will appear as you listen

0:00

30:54

Concept

F1

F1 stands for Formula 1, which is a type of car racing that involves fast cars racing on special tracks. It's known for its exciting races and advanced technology used in the cars.

Brand

Ford

Ford is a well-known car company that makes many types of vehicles, like trucks and cars. They have been around for a long time and are famous for their role in racing and car technology.

Brand

Red Bull

Red Bull is a brand that makes energy drinks, but they are also famous for sponsoring sports, especially car racing. They own a racing team that competes in Formula 1.

Concept

Formula 1

Formula 1 is a popular type of car racing where specially designed cars compete in races on different tracks. It's known for its fast cars and exciting events.

Brand

Honda

Honda is a car company from Japan that makes many popular vehicles. They are also involved in racing and have a reputation for building reliable cars.

Term

GP2 engine

A GP2 engine is a type of engine used in a racing series called GP2, which helps young drivers prepare for Formula 1. These engines are built for speed and performance.

Car

The Dodge Charger is a famous car from the 1970s that many people love for its speed and cool looks. The 1973 version is part of a series of Chargers that were popular for their powerful engines and sporty design.

Car

Pontiac Grand Prix SJ

The Pontiac Grand Prix SJ is a type of car that was made by Pontiac. It's known for being sporty and stylish, and it was popular in the past.

Term

daily driver

A daily driver is a car that you use every day to go places like work or school. It's usually a reliable car that you can count on for your daily needs.

LIVE

Here's how to stay alive longer so you can enjoy Boost Mobile's Unlimited Plan with the price that never goes up.

Do not mistake a wasp nest for a piñata.

Stay alive and switch now at Boost Mobile.

After 30 gigs, customers may experience slower speeds. Customers will pay $25 a month as long as they remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited Plan.

Knock knock.

Oh, who's there?

A Boost Mobile expert here to deliver and set up your all-new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever.

You call that a knock-knock joke?

This isn't a joke. Boost Mobile really sends experts to deliver and set up your phone at home or work.

OK, it's just that when people say knock-knock, there's usually a joke to go with it.

Like I said, this isn't a joke.

So the knock-knock was just you knocking.

Yeah, that's how doors work.

Get the new iPhone 17 Pro delivered and set up by an expert wherever you are.

Delivery available for select devices purchased at BoostMobile.com. Terms apply.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy.

2026 feels weird to say that we're now in the swing of things when it's like just under two months until it lights out in Australia.

But this is the beauty of a new regulation set.

The car launches, delivery launches, whatever you want to call them have been pushed forward.

We've got testing at the end of January and Red Bull, they decided to kick things off first.

Didn't they, Tommy? How are we feeling?

A very unsociable hour to kick 2026 off.

I'm feeling tired, but I'm feeling like F1 is well and truly back.

They did a proper car launch, which is always a risk, isn't it?

And I'm sure we'll dive into this of the balance of show the car

or just doing a picture online and F1 fans are never happy either way.

But yeah, they did a long, pre-recorded car launch.

Oh, well, let's get straight into it, shall we?

That is the topic of the first question, elephant in the room.

Let's talk about it.

P1 Patriot member Steelhead, why on earth would they pre-record it?

And then behave as if it was live?

That one is a little bit strange.

The title of the YouTube video says at the end, live.

The whole, I guess, marketing of it was that it was going to be a live car launch.

And yet there were pictures of the car circulating social media before the launch had even begun.

Now, I reckon from a Red Bull standpoint, they did not want leaks to happen.

Why would they put so much effort into a launch?

Do it in Detroit?

Not sure why they did it at 10 p.m. local time in Detroit, which is like 3 a.m.

where we were for the actual car launch, but whatever, right?

But the fact that they then basically the car, I don't know if the V-car was leaked before the launch started.

From the sound of our chat, the team posted it before we saw it in the pre-record.

I am go post. I am done.

Someone in fianza and V-car base just was like, now I'm done with this.

But it was slightly frustrating.

I avoided it massively.

I did not want to even go on social media.

As soon as I saw people in chat going, oh, it's on.

I'm like, no, the live streams or pre-recorded streams, whatever they are, car launches, I want to experience them.

I want to see what the effort that the teams have put into their little production.

But it is annoying that, of course, it was pre-recorded and everybody had kind of seen it,

or at least the people that searched for it had seen it.

Because it takes away the whole point of an event and then you're questioning why have they not...

Because I've been to, say for example, an F1 team before and they make you put a little sticker on the back of your phone to stop you from recording.

Or lock them away or anything.

Yeah, there was none of that. They were like, yeah.

Just don't post it.

I reckon they promised it.

Can we trust you all in the room to not post it?

Yeah, how bad can we make the Wi-Fi or signal in this room to make sure people don't do it?

But then it seems like it was quite a long pre-record.

So yeah, I assume that Red Bull weren't that naive in thinking that everyone would obey these rules

and no one would want to be that person to post the car with this DNA.

Yeah, exactly. It's just impossible.

You see, as soon as Max and Isaac came out on stage, all the phones came up.

Everyone's going to have their phone out filming this and them taking the covers off.

So yeah, very weird that it was having that kind of pre-record.

So then everyone's already kind of...

People have posted it on social media already.

And as you say, you don't want to see it because it can change your perception of the car launch or also the liver itself.

I don't want to see a low quality picture of something.

You want to see how it's intended to be.

So I appreciate all the people that joined us on the live stream and got to see it as it was launched.

Yes, and with the whole production as well, they would have filmed it as live.

Of course, it didn't go out live.

The one rule in filming as live is to not say what the time is during the car launch.

They kept mentioning it.

They basically were like, I was 1am in the UK or whatever.

They even said or something.

They were like, I'm not sure when this is going out or something.

I'm sure this is something along those lines.

And then a really hard cut as well at one point where you're just like...

There was a couple of hard cuts.

One where the initial host got yeeted and there was a new one.

Just immediately like, we've got a new host now for VCarb.

It was the hardest cut ever.

But look, these are small things that you notice even at the horrible time in the morning that we were watching.

But apart from that, of course, the launch itself, I will say right now, of course,

we're going to be slightly grumpy at the fact we're up early watching a car launch.

Had this been at midday, I'd have gone probably perfect level of launch.

A nice bit of preamble, bit of chat.

Not sure why Stephane Domenicali just popped up and started telling us that DRS wasn't a thing anymore.

Because you would expect the people that are watching live would know these things.

But overall, I think it was a pretty good car launch.

As car launches go, I'm thinking of the ranking system.

This is quite high.

The low one has to be Alpine from a few years ago,

where they literally just hosted it in a conference room, spoke for...

Oh, they went for ages.

This was quite long.

I remember looking at how long it took.

It was about 40 minutes, I think, before they revealed the car, which is quite a long time.

I remember Williams one year.

We praised them, didn't we?

I think it maybe was even...

Oh, no, not last year, because that was the launch where they all did it together.

But the year before, where we were like, that's the perfect launch.

Because they got the drivers out straight away,

revealed the car within maybe 10 minutes.

So it felt like a car launch.

Because as we mentioned, we kind of still complain if it's just...

Everyone's saying they want to see the car.

If you see the car, it's underwhelming for them just to stick a picture

on Twitter or Instagram or whatever.

So yeah, it was quite a long process.

But I appreciate them doing a car launch.

Because I personally like the fact that it's car launch season.

I like having lots of different ones, personally.

Yeah, it's part of the circus of Formula One, isn't it?

20 minutes is the perfect spot.

But when you're a big team or have a lot of sponsor obligations

or you've brought Ford in, they're of course going to go along with you.

They're going to have to mention it.

Is that their launch?

Really, it's as much as Ford's launch as Red Bull.

Because it's new to them.

They need to introduce themselves to the world,

even though we all know who Ford is.

But from their side, this is their big moment to basically show

all the cool stuff they do,

speak to the people in the engine department.

Because it's all new for Red Bull and Ford and the partnership.

Exactly. And that's when the most viewers are.

You see on YouTube, there was 150k watching Red Bull.

As soon as they launched the car,

or at least when V-Car but launched their car,

the views went down by over half.

Everybody just turned it off.

So they have to get their messaging across.

And I understand that to some degree.

But yeah, maybe a slightly bit long, but overall, not too bad.

Question from Master KB7.

Why no live event with all the liveries together,

just like how they did last year?

Well, that was a special anniversary, wasn't it?

For the 75th anniversary of F1.

That's why they did that big event.

I liked the event that they did.

But I think I remember saying at the time

that I don't want this to be every year.

In my opinion, excuse me, it's very early.

You get emotional. You love Jack.

You just wish that it was there.

My opinion is still the same.

I don't want it to be every year

where they reveal them all at the same time.

I like the fact that we're going to have like a week,

maybe like a couple of weeks,

actually a bit longer potentially,

because of how staggered the car launches

and how it's a bit weird with the deregulations.

I'm going to see, you know,

it's part of that fun of having different launches

on different days and you can get excited

and everyone's a little bit different.

I prefer that personally.

It gives a lot of excitement to the season

and feels like a proper thing,

whereas I did enjoy what they did with the F175 last year,

but I would rather that just be a special event

where it's just like one time,

let's reveal them all together.

I didn't come away from the F175 thing going,

they should do that all the time personally.

I can see why some people would like it,

but not for me.

I completely agree that that was a special event.

If you had that every year,

people would just be,

here we go again, another one.

It was different.

You had the drivers being put under

Jack Whitehall comedy,

which is something I don't think any of us expected.

That was cool because it was a landmark season for F1.

It wouldn't be the same if it's F176.

It just doesn't hit the same.

Maybe F180, that's when they'll next do it.

It's not a yearly thing.

I like the fact that the teams can have their own

bit of time in the sun

and they can do their own little bit of production.

Also, it means we get more things to watch

over the course of the next couple of weeks

rather than just one show.

I'm a fan of that.

Before we get into the thoughts,

I feel like we're doing our own preamble here.

It's like the 30 minutes

before we actually get into what we think of the deliveries.

The one thing I want to do

just before we get into the Red Bull car launch

is pull down our VR headsets, Tommy,

and really get into...

If we zoom in here,

let's talk about that because that was

an interesting feature, wasn't it,

of the Red Bull side of the car launch.

In the actual premise of it,

I like the thinking behind it.

There must be some sort of sponsorship

that I've not seen or whatever

that is to do with Apple and the US, et cetera, et cetera.

I like the idea of it.

It was kind of laggy, a little bit.

Not really sure what was going on.

I think they could have shown us more.

Had it been actually about the engine itself,

they could have done a much sort of cooler asset

to just show on screen, right?

But they did something a little bit different.

I thought Callum was great.

I thought he hosted very well,

considering that's not obviously

what he used to be an engineer and things like that.

But overall, it was a little bit janky.

But I like the fact they tried something different

because it definitely made us go,

why have they all got headsets on?

I actually quite liked the fact that

they tried something a bit different.

It's one of those things where

had they done that near the start

and not after 20 minutes of talking

to all the kind of engine people anyway,

and everyone's already sort of in that kind of like,

I want to see the car,

maybe that's why a lot of people were kind of like,

what on earth is this?

But I do like the fact that in a car launch

they need to do something fun and different.

And it's a new engine formula.

We mentioned about the fact that

a lot of people are going to know this and know that.

But I think in terms of explaining the engine

a little bit more on a very surface level

I think is quite important for fans

because even the hard cause, like us, you know,

technical knowledge is very limited.

So it's nice to see it from that.

What do you mean, Tommy?

Go back to the 2026 season predictions.

You're telling us about compression rates.

I know.

It's the new Tom Bellingham for 2026.

Compression ratio, I think.

Oh, get in the bin.

It's starting to do with engines.

I think it's 4am.

But you're not going to mention it again.

I'm going to slap you silly.

Right, let's get into Red Bull racing livery, shall we?

Thoughts on the new-ish look?

Stone Cold Banger.

Absolutely beautiful.

They changed the hex code by one.

I don't really know how Photoshop works,

but I know that it's hex codes that, like, colours work in.

And there are many, many shades of a colour

and I feel like they've made it slightly lighter

and everyone...

Well, maybe not everyone.

I mean, there's always some people

that complain about everything.

But for me, I saw it.

I went, wow, that looks awesome.

They're not just the render,

but the car actually in person as well.

I don't know if it's the lights

that were the way they were shining on it.

It looked a little bit sort of like night sky vibes.

It's got gloss, hasn't it?

Yeah, the gloss obviously is a massive, massive win.

So yeah, I am a huge fan of this Red Bull racing livery.

Considering they've not changed the actual premise of it,

changed a little bit of the colour,

and boom, it's popping.

Exactly.

I mean, the Red Bull is always going to be essentially blue

with the Red Bull logo on the engine cover and the nose.

Like, that is what Red Bull has always done

with their race cars, you know, their single-seater cars.

So it's always going to be that.

So there's very limited stuff they can do.

And it's funny how them going back

to just the white outline of the Red Bull

that we saw kind of in that Vettel era,

going back to that after 10 years of the same livery,

it makes it hit like it's this crazy different livery

just because we've had 10 years of it being such a meme

about the fact that the Red Bull is always the same.

It looks the same.

But it is different enough as much as they can do.

And I expected them to do this

with the way they teased the logo and stuff.

They were going to go back to this more

kind of old-school approach to the Red Bull logo and stuff.

I did not expect them to go like really glossy paint again,

which is cool because I thought those days were gone

just because, you know, with weight-saving and all that,

you can tell Adrian Newie's gone.

And yeah, the fact that how good it will look on TV

will wait to find out.

But it's really cool because, yeah,

looking at the renders and what we saw online,

it's kind of like light blue and dark blue

and there's lots of like little glitch effects

and the Red Bull logo within the paint and stuff.

So yeah, really cool, nice little change,

but not changing too much.

It looks really, really nice. I really like it.

Next question from people on Patreon.

Remember, Edith is my middle name.

How much carbon do you think will cover up the beautiful car?

Well, not a lot because they're not allowed to.

So if you missed it, there's now,

which I'm convinced that we said it.

Yeah, we said it.

We said they need to regulate some kind of paint.

I think the straw that broke the camel's back

was that Alpine reveal, wasn't it?

When we'd already had a few and then Alpine launched that car

that was, we know Alpine for being bright pink and blue

and wanted to see a lot of color

and then it was like the carbon

and we were just like broke at that point

that something needs, they need to put in some kind of regulation

and they have.

So basically it is 55% of the car's surface

viewed from the side and top

must be painted and stickered.

So they can't do what they did back in

2023 or 24, I'm trying to remember which year it was now,

where all the cars were like so heavily weight-saved

and it was just like crazy.

So they can't do it.

I will say though, 55% is not actually that much

and it's not what we were sort of calling for

which maybe would have been 80%.

If you actually look at the side angle,

there's a lot of black and carbon on that car.

I think it's just that we're seeing the popping of the red bull.

I wouldn't say it's a massive revolutionary change

this 55% role if we're looking at that livery.

I think we're just seeing the amazing parts of it

because if you look further down after the blue

it's all black.

Yeah, because they always, I guess that's how they do it

is they're always going to use the carbon for the bottom

so they couldn't do 100%

because you're not going to be painting the kind of

barge boards and the floor and everything like that.

It just, hopefully, the 55% is enough

to put that identity to stop these teams doing it.

And we saw last year that teams are starting

to bring more colour back.

You wonder anyway if it was more of the backlash

but then this maybe just adds even more

the fact that they can do it.

So, yeah, fingers crossed.

OK, next question from Pugh on Patreon member Justin.

Will Ford back out of the partnership

if the car isn't at the front competing?

I think that's very knee jerk, I would say Justin

to expect Ford to just bounce

if things aren't going well.

Look back Honda at McLaren.

That's a good sort of, I would say reference

of how terrible it was when their first,

when their partnership sort of last kicked off

before obviously all their success that they've had.

So, yeah, it can change.

Yes, sometimes Honda got such a bad rep

back in what was it 2014?

15 when they came in and we're just useless, yeah.

Thanks, Tommy, the Oracle of all knowledge

and years and thanks.

And look, you know, now.

So, I wouldn't say that just because Ford have joined

that if it's terrible this year, they'll bounce.

They've committed to a long-term plan.

They'll have to, in my opinion, last

until the regulations change again in 2031

if I'm not mistaken.

So, yeah, this is a long-term partnership.

It's not just going to be a case of,

ah, rebel or rubbish.

Tommy's predicted the ninth in the championship.

Max is going to win a race.

Actually, we regret everything.

They're not going to bounce.

They alluded in their kind of video

and all the, you know, if anyone was actually listening

to the corporate spiel that they were actually saying

in the car launch and not just send out.

They did mention, you know, hard type,

like, we know it's not going to be easy

and things like that.

So, you know, they're not expecting to go in

and just be like absolutely amazing straight away.

Like, they kind of almost joked the fact that,

you know, why would you build your own engine

and, you know, it puts you on the back foot.

They kind of alluded to that.

So, they know it's going to be tough

and Honda is the perfect example, like you said.

You know, if you'd have said

when Honda were in the back of that McLaren

and we were having GP2 engine

and all that kind of stuff,

that you'd have said that within the hybrid era

they would be winning the World Championship

with Red Bull.

You wouldn't have believed it

because they were so far off.

It was so bad they were breaking down all the time.

And that's just, you know, it's teething issues

and we'll find out how well Red Bull will do soon enough,

maybe even the first test from what we can find out

with it all being secret and all that.

And yes, obviously I was referring to Honda's

success with Red Bull

and how they turned around that whole development programme.

It was quite remarkable considering the memes

that were tied to them.

And finally, how do we think they will do in 2026?

Red Bull Racing.

I don't think they're going to be anywhere near as bad

as what Tommy thinks they're going to be.

I don't think they're going to win the World Championship.

But this is purely based on vibes.

A lot of people, you know, they came into our predictions

and went, this is far too early.

Well, look, that is the whole point of those predictions

is that before testing, we just want to just see

how the wind is basically going.

And I don't think they're going to be a disaster.

They've got Max Verstappen.

They've got Hajira, I believe he's going to do much better.

They'll be a top four team.

Will they be the fastest?

We will see.

Yeah, it's so hard to know at this stage.

Obviously, I'm not filled with confidence

since my Max prediction, which I know is like

shocked so many people.

But, you know, my argument here is not that,

I think it's quite obvious that I think Max is a great driver

and one of the best we've ever seen.

It's nothing on him.

I'm not filled with confidence of a new regulation

and the fact that Red Bull are building their own engine

and particularly of the things that you're hearing about

Mercedes and potentially having this advantage.

You know, you look at, say Mercedes do have this trick

and it is like the absolute...

That was reported to be Red Bull as well now.

Is that now not the case?

It's now heavily rumoured that they know how to do it

but they don't have it.

We'll find out, obviously.

It's all a load of rubbish.

All of this rumour stuff can just get in the bin

as far as I'm concerned.

Well, exactly.

So we don't know.

But my logic is that if Mercedes do have this

golden bullet engine, you know,

Mercedes are going to be quick,

McLaren are going to be quick,

Williams are going to be quick

and Alpinx have all got the engine.

So that's the top four in the constructors.

And then, you know, Aston Martin have got Newey and...

And then Ferrari.

Well, yeah, we'll find out.

I might start a rumour that they've actually got

a 1 in 22 conversion right now.

Yeah, they fare.

But this is the thing.

Like, you know, everyone...

And it could age badly and Max might win the first race

and I'll go, I'm glad I'm wrong.

I'll take it every day of the week.

That's so annoying.

Like, when you...

Like, it's an insurance prediction.

Yeah, it's an insurance prediction.

Yeah, it's so...

Because I want to bask in the glory of you being wrong,

but it means Max has won.

And I'm like, well, have I really won anything?

Yeah, I just don't...

I just think it's going to be tough for him

and that's why I predicted it because, you know,

I do think we've seen dominance.

Like, I don't...

I'm surprised at just how...

Like, crazy people think that.

I understand, like, it's crazy.

Like, because it is.

Because Max is...

Yeah, Max won't win a race.

Yeah.

But that's the whole...

The thinking is literally...

It's because I think, you know,

there's going to be teams and certain teams, you know,

completely dominating and it might be hard for others

to get a look at that.

That's the form we've seen in engine regulations

and regulation changes before, so...

That's my crazy prediction.

I said that Alonso would retire at the end of the year

and the Aston Martin would be terrible.

That's not on Alonso.

That's on the fact that Aston Martin

is going to be a rubbish car

and he can't do anything.

And he's like, you know what?

I'm going to bounce.

Yeah, very fair indeed.

Is cereal a protein?

Healthy eating can be really difficult

if you don't want to give up three hours every night.

Factor meals are made by chefs,

and delivered to your door.

They're full of lean proteins,

colourful veggies,

healthy fats.

The stuff you'd make if you had time.

No refined sugars,

no artificial sweeteners,

no refined seed oils.

They've got 100 rotating meals every week.

High protein,

calorie smart,

Mediterranean,

GLP-1 support,

even a new muscle pro line.

So you can pick what fits your goals.

Head to factormeals.com

slash Matt and Tommy 50 off

and use code

Matt and Tommy 50 off

to get 50% off your first factor box

plus free breakfast for one year.

That's factormeals.com

slash Matt and Tommy 50 off.

Offer only valid for new factor customers

with code

and qualifying auto renewing subscription purchase.

Make healthier eating easy

with factor.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.

February can feel like a lot.

Everywhere you look,

it's flowers,

chocolates,

big romantic gestures,

and it can start to feel like

everyone else has their love life together.

But the truth is,

whether you're married,

dating,

single,

or just focusing on yourself,

lots of us are still figuring it out.

No matter where you are

on your romantic journey,

therapy can help you find your way,

helping you understand what you want,

what feels heavy,

and how to take some of that pressure off yourself.

It can help you identify

what's weighing your relationships down

and find new ways to brighten them up again.

BetterHelp makes therapy easy.

Their therapists are fully licensed in the US

and work according to a strict code of conduct.

They also do the matching work for you.

A short questionnaire

helps identify your needs and preferences,

and with over 12 years of experience,

they typically get it right the first time.

And if it's not the right fit,

you can switch therapists at any time.

So if you're ready to take a little pressure off yourself this February,

slash P1Pod.

That's B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P

dot com slash P1Pod.

This episode is sponsored by eBay.

The cars you'll find on eBay are just different.

They come with a story that you can't wait to share.

Maybe it's the car history,

or the story of how you found it.

Like this 1973 Dodge Charger on eBay,

that has been tucked away in an Arizona barn

for over 40 years.

Only 55,000 miles,

and somehow in great running order.

It even has a rare sunroof.

Suddenly a car that was hidden for decades

is uncovered on eBay

and ready to be delivered straight to your driveway.

Thanks to eBay's secure purchase,

the new seamless and secure way

to buy your next car.

In just a few clicks,

the title and DMV paperwork

is all handled for you.

There are thousands of cars like this on eBay,

from rare finds like the Pontiac Grand Prix SJ,

to unique builds and your next daily driver.

And now a new seamless way to buy them.

eBay, things people love.

AI is transforming customer service.

It's real and it works.

And with FIN,

we've built the number one AI agent for customer service.

We're seeing lots of cases where it's solving

up to 90% of real queries for real businesses.

This includes the real world complex stuff,

like issuing a refund or cancelling an order.

And we also see it when FIN goes up against competitors.

It's top of all the performance benchmarks,

top of the G2 leaderboard,

and if you're not happy,

we'll refund you up to a million dollars.

Which I think says it all.

Check it out for yourself at fin.ai.

Nights and weekends.

You can search by what matters.

Like insurance, specialty, identity,

or availability and get started in as little as two days.

And if something comes up,

you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost.

There are no subscriptions,

no long-term commitments.

You just pay per session.

Grow helps you find therapy on your time.

Whatever challenges you're facing,

Grow Therapy is here to help.

Sessions average about $21 with insurance

and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan.

Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans,

including Medicaid in some states.

Visit growtherapy.com slash start now today to get started.

That's growtherapy.com slash start now.

Growtherapy.com slash start now.

Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

What are you reaching for?

If you're a smoker or vapor,

you could be reaching for so much more with Zin nicotine pouches.

When you reach for Zin,

you're reaching for 10 satisfying varieties and two strengths

for a smoke-free experience that lets you lean in

for chances to break free from your routine

and a unique nationwide community.

Whatever you're reaching for, reach for it

with America's number one nicotine pouch brand.

Find yours in wherever nicotine products are sold near you.

Morning.

This product contains nicotine.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Let's move on to VCarb,

where they also, of course, released their car livery

in the same event with a different host

and a nice large cut in between the two.

And went straight in with the kind of...

Here are the drivers.

They did not bring nicotine back on.

They knew the retention once the Red Bull had been launched

was going down.

They needed to launch the car.

First thoughts on the look.

I like it.

It's not massively different to last year's.

There's a little bit more funky stuff going on at the back,

integrating the Ford Racing logo.

I'm looking at it right now.

I think it's...

From the side-angle render, I think it looks pretty nice.

I don't really understand.

I feel like it's a bit of a Marmite livery

from what I've seen, the initial reaction on social media.

To be honest,

it might be even on a par with last year.

It's not that radically different.

It's more blue at the back

and they've integrated the white wheel rims,

which I enjoy.

So, yeah, I think it's a very solid livery.

Yeah, they've done something different, haven't they?

They've tried to...

They even said this in the launch

that they got such a positive reception

for doing something different last year

and it kind of very much was

majority of people's favorite livery,

which is crazy and shows kind of

how much we were all bored of carbon

that painting the whole car white was just...

Everyone was like, oh my God, this is amazing.

I don't like it as much as last year.

I think, ironically,

this kind of looks like they have gone.

Oh, it's only 55% needed.

Let's stick some carbon on there again.

And look, they've mixed it up.

I see why people like it.

I see why people don't like it.

I'm not as big of a fan of it as before.

One thing I really would...

I guess it was never going to happen,

particularly with the Ford partnership now

and I guess teams want to have an identity,

but I would love to see VCarb

just be crazy every year

and do something different every year.

They could so easily be that team

that you look forward to and know

it's going to be different every year

because Red Bull, obviously,

they have all those special edition cans

where it's purple, yellow, orange, whatever.

Imagine going into each launch

and not knowing even what the color

of the car is going to be like.

That would be cool.

Brand identity, Tommy.

Brand identity.

Well, Visa Cash App,

as they are, of course, are.

Cash App, Bright Green.

Where's all the green?

Where's the Stake F1 team?

What's the grid now?

They could have taken it.

Could have gone for the green.

In an ideal world,

absolutely sign me up, let's have a new livery every year.

Don't see it happening.

If we see the F1 world as it is.

That would be very exciting.

That's his marketing right there, isn't it really?

Yes, exactly.

Come on, marketing.

A bit more fun.

But now I think it's a different enough livery

that it's intrigued the mind

of the V2 in 2026.

I believe that's a lot of chatter

that they might not be that great.

I mean, if Red Bull

aren't great,

VCar most likely are not going to be very good.

They could well be

one of the slowest cars on the grid,

which is crazy to think.

But that's sort of just general consensus

and then we get to the first race of the season

and they qualify in fourth and you're like,

oh, wow, we were so off with this.

But it's purely Vibes.

Vibes car, apparently.

Yeah, that's what we're going off

and I think they will be one of the slower ones

just from general

feeling, but that's it.

Yeah, I think from Vibes

if I had to predict, I'd say it's going to be

between them

and Cadillac maybe

for the kind of bottom places.

But I do wonder,

I thought that last year

I think even after testing

I said that Hadja was going to be

18th in the championship or something

and then they got into that first race.

Yuki Sonoda put it fifth in

qualifying and

even testing after we had testing

VCar would just

like, oh, they're not that great.

They're probably going to be like

bottom of the pack.

And then we saw,

imagine saying at that point

that we'd get four races in

and everyone's going, Max get in the VCar

but it's quicker,

which is crazy. So

I thought that last year maybe they'll

perform miracles, but as with Red Bull

it's a huge ask to have

they're essentially

going to be in that same boat as Red Bull with a new engine

but of course

everything's put into

the big team

and Max Verstappen's team.

So of course they're going to be on the back foot.

But they are a separate entity, Tommy.

They are a separate team.

Doesn't matter about Max.

They have their own resource

still

into this day.

Launching at the same time doesn't matter

on the Red Bull Racing YouTube channel

really doesn't help.

Good stuff.

Right, thank you everybody for tuning in

to this, I guess, first

proper podcast about

the season ahead.

Excited to see the rest of the car launches

for sure, livery launches.

If I see deep

drives into the aerodynamics of the cars

that are shown today, I will be

deleting that from my brain. Do not take anything

that people say

about the aero or the

innovative designs that the

teams have been putting out because

with new regulations they will be showing

as little as possible

and the cars will look probably

rather radically different

from Australia.

That's one thing to mention actually is

years gone by

because of a big regulation change

I remember

in particular the first year

when they

changed the cars to give them

the skinny wings and then they went back to

the wider cars and it was

such a shock.

I don't know about you but

it doesn't seem to have

obviously they are different cars

maybe I've just seen

the renders of the new car

so much and also the fact that

they look like the cars from the

2000s.

It's a weird thing to say but

normally when we get a new regulation

I go oh that's going to take some

getting used to this. I'm already looking at it going

that looks really nice.

And obviously not

massively different to what we've been used to

which I don't know if that rings alarm

bells that I don't go wow

that does look really different and therefore

we're going to get lots of different racing

but

it's a good look

as you say it kind of has a more

old-school approach to it

so I'm a fan of that for sure

and honestly I don't care what they

look like as long as they can overtake and follow closely

so fingers crossed

that will be the case. Thank you everybody

we'll see you very soon lots of love take care

have your sweet dreams I will be having some

goodbye

that was kind of your final

thoughts but I don't know if you have anything else to say

my final thoughts are

remember

when you're complaining about how long that car launch

takes when Haas launch

a picture online

and you're going where's the car launch

yeah come on

bye

but with Zinn nicotine pouches

you'll discover many good reasons

Zinn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand

plus Zinn offers

a robust rewards program

there are lots of options when it comes

to nicotine satisfaction

but there's only one Zinn

check out zinn.com

to find Zinn at a store near you

warning this product contains nicotine

nicotine is an addictive chemical

About this episode

The P1 Podcast dives into the recent car launches for Red Bull and VCARB, discussing the unique approach of pre-recording the event while marketing it as live. Matt and Tommy express their mixed feelings about the production quality and timing, especially given the early hour for viewers in the UK. They analyze the effectiveness of the launch format, the importance of maintaining excitement through staggered reveals, and the innovative yet somewhat clunky use of VR technology during the presentation. The episode captures the essence of F1's car launch season and the fans' reactions.

daily driver F1 Ford Formula 1 GP2 engine Honda Red Bull

Dodge Charger Pontiac Grand Prix

Original notes

Brush down the red carpet and roll the definitely-not-pre-recorded tape, because car launch season is here!

First up, an absolute stunner from Red Bull and then something decidedly less stunning from their junior team, VCARB.

Sign up to our Patreon! You'll get access to every P1 episode ad-free, extended versions of every 2026 race review, early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

P1 with Matt and Tommy

Stak

View classic page →

0:00

30:54