RED BULL LEGENDS PARADE 2026: RED BULL RACING RB6 (2010)

Refuelling stops were banned from the 2010 season onwards, and racing cars got bigger in order to carry a 160-kilo fuel load. Red Bull and Renault made clever use of engine mapping programmes to ensure fuel-efficient driving even at full throttle. A double diffuser increased downforce at the rear. The front wing was flexible, dropping at high speeds to reduce drag whilst generating optimal downforce. With its aerodynamic integration, the RB6 laid the foundation for the flow of engine exhaust gases through the diffuser, which in a more developed form became a major trend in the years that follow.

Adrian Newey. The world’s most successful racing car designer made a sensational comeback with the RB6 as the creator of a world championship-winning car at a time when many teams believed the era of designer greats was over and that supercomputers would design better cars in future. What a mistake! Newey had already caused a stir when he was with March, a team who were consistently among the also-rans, before going on to create award-winning racing cars for Williams and McLaren. Born 1958 in Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, Adrian discovered his passion for racing cars through model-making. For example the Lotus 49: “I built the 1:12 scale model in 1968, when I was ten years old. Every detail was spot on with those kits, so I knew what wheel mounts and lower wishbones looked like, and so on, right down to the suspension.”

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Two drivers who made an explosive mix. After a year spent finding their feet in 2009, team rivalry soon turned into full-scale war in 2010 with the title-contending RB6, leading to numerous incidents from Istanbul to Silverstone and a further deterioration in their relationship the following season. Both of them are now retired from F1 and able once again to have ‘interesting’ conversations with one another.

You just need to read some of the comments made years later by the two men most responsible for the RB6’s success to get an idea of its standing. Vettel says this car is the best he has ever driven in his entire career, while Adrian Newey thinks that no other car in the history of the sport has ever been able to generate as much downforce.

With one victory and four finishes as runner-up, the Scot was one of the most successful drivers of the A1-Ring era. Even though he has never competed in a race at the Red Bull Ring, he has been a welcome guest ever since the circuit opened, for example at ‘Go with your Pro’, at numerous events, including appearances with Wings for Life and in the Legends Parades. The long-serving Red Bull Racing driver will be driving the RB6 this year, a car that he knows inside out – he was one of the test and development drivers along with Daniel Ricciardo and Brendon Hartley.