Red Bull Motorsports
F1
It’s time to revisit Red Bull Racing’s iconic RB7 car
Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel will be showing off the RB7 car in all its F1 title-winning glory at Red Bull Showrun in Spain and Red Bull Formula Nürburgring in Germany.
The Spanish capital of Madrid and the German track of Nürburgring are set to host two adrenaline-packed events as Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel show off Red Bull Racing’s RB7 this year.
Red Bull Showrun and Red Bull Formula Nürburgring will be electrifying spectacles that showcase the prowess of the RB7. The iconic vehicle will roar through the streets of Madrid on July 15 with Perez at the wheel before Vettel tears up Germany’s Nürburgring on September 9.
With Pérez performing doughnuts on asphalt in Madrid and Vettel doing laps of the track at Nürburgring, spectators will get to marvel at the sound of the fabled car’s 750 CV Renault V8 engine at close quarters. But what else is there to know about the car?
The RB7 helped Sebastian Vettel to his second World Championship
© Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
01
A car that dominated F1
Red Bull Racing faced a daunting task in the 2011 Formula One season. The team’s engineers had the challenging mission of enhancing the performance of the RB6, the team's first championship-winning car, driven by Vettel and Mark Webber. In the previous year, the RB6 had clinched the double title, triumphing in nine races and securing an impressive 15 pole positions.
Building on the triumph of 2010, the team faced a dual challenge with their next car: not only did it have to surpass the RB6's performance, but it also had to tackle various technical obstacles and adapt to a new tyre supplier. The outcome? The birth of one of the most dominant machines in the annals of motorsport: the RB7. This extraordinary car seized a remarkable 18 out of 19 pole positions and claimed victory in 12 races, amassing an impressive total of 650 points. The exceptional performance of the RB7 led the team to secure their second drivers' and constructors' double in 2011.
Adrian Newey has helped mastermind the success of Red Bull Racing
© Mark Thompson/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
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The brainchild of Adrian Newey
Red Bull Racing's success would not have been possible without the genius of Adrian Newey, one of Formula One's greatest designers. 17 years ago the Briton began a close collaboration with the team that paved the way for six drivers' titles - four for Vettel and two for Max Verstappen – and another five manufacturers' titles.
Throughout all these years, Newey has become an indispensable figure for the team, capable of developing title-winning machines within a very strict regulatory framework such as the one experienced by the RB7.
Brakes Smoking As Alex Sports The Soft Tyre
© Vladimir Rys
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Pirelli roll into action
One of the main variables in the design of the RB7 was the arrival of a new tyre supplier: Pirelli. The Italian manufacturer offered four dry compounds (Hard, Medium, Soft and Supersoft) and two wet compounds (Intermediate and Wet). Pirelli were tasked with creating tyres that were less durable than their predecessors (Bridgestone). This was demonstrated in several races in which the performance of the tyres fell rapidly, which resulted in further changes in the teams' strategies.
The RB7’s technical data
- Number of cylinders: 8
- Number of valves: 4 per cylinders
- Oil: Total
- Displacement: 2400 cc
- Motor: V90
- Weight: 750kg
- RPM: 18000 rpm max
- Power: 750 CV
"We Have To Remember These Days"
© Vladimir Rys
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Vettel’s glory days revisited
After 299 races, 53 wins, 57 pole positions and four drivers' titles, Vettel said goodbye at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit last season, the track where he became the youngest World Champion in the history of F1.
The German driver was instrumental in putting Red Bull Racing on the map, and now he'll be getting back on track with the RB7 at Red Bull Formula Nürburgring in Germany.
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Do you remember the first time, Checo?
Red Bull Showrun won’t be the first time that Pérez has climbed into the cockpit of the RB7. In 2021, the Mexican driver used his home Grand Prix weekend to drive the RB7 around Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma in front of 130,000 passionate fans.
“I never imagined a moment like this," said Pérez. "As an athlete and driver you always think about riding on the track, but we did it on the streets of Mexico City. Everyone was full of energy. The people were incredible!”
Check out what happened when Pérez took the RB7 for a spin around Mexico City in the video below.
