The Red Bull RB15 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Red Bull Racing to compete during the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon. Pierre Gasly was originally meant to be driving the car for the entire season after moving from Toro Rosso to replace Daniel Ricciardo. However, after the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix it was announced that Alexander Albon would be replacing Gasly for the remainder of the season. The RB15 is the first car built by Red Bull Racing with a Honda engine, and made its competitive début at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen's win at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix made the RB15 the first Honda-powered car to achieve victory since Jenson Button won for Honda at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix in the Honda RA106.
Development
Competition history
Opening rounds
In Australia, the team showed good pace during the free practice sessions. However, Gasly was knocked out in Q1 after a strategy error by the team, while team-mate Verstappen qualified fourth, behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. In the race, Verstappen finished third, giving Honda their first podium finish since 2008. Gasly recovered from seventeenth to finish eleventh, just outside the points. Team principal Christian Horner praised Gasly for his effort over the radio during the cool-down lap.
In Bahrain, Ferrari dominated the timing sheets of the practice sessions. Verstappen qualified in 5th, while Gasly qualified in 13th. In the race, Verstappen narrowly missed out on the podium as he finished in 4th, while Gasly finished in 8th.
In China, both Red Bull cars secured third-row lockout with Verstappen and Gasly qualifying 5th and 6th respectively, giving the latter his first Q3 appearance this season. In the race, Verstappen finished in fourth, while Gasly finished in sixth place whilst setting the fastest lap to secure an additional point.
In Azerbaijan, Verstappen finished fourth, while Gasly retired from the race with a mechanical issue. After the race, Verstappen dropped into fourth in the Drivers' Championship, trailing by a point from third-placed Sebastian Vettel who had 52 points.
European and Canadian rounds
In Spain, Verstappen and Gasly qualified 4th and 6th respectively. Verstappen went on to finish 3rd after a move on Sebastian Vettel on Lap 1 (replicating his result from the previous year), whilst Gasly finished where he started, in 6th place.
In Monaco, Verstappen qualified 3rd, with Gasly 5th (but he took a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Romain Grosjean in Q1, and would therefore start 8th). Verstappen would cross the line in 2nd but was demoted to 4th after a 5-second penalty for an unsafe release, whilst Gasly was 5th (setting the fastest lap in the process).
In Canada, Verstappen was caught out by red flags for Kevin Magnussen crashing at the end of Q2 and would only qualify 11th, with Gasly 5th. In the race, Verstappen came back through to finish in 5th, with Gasly falling to 8th.
In France, Verstappen qualified 4th with Gasly in a disappointing 9th. The race would be worse for the Frenchman as he fell to 11th, before being promoted back up into 10th following a 5-second penalty for Daniel Ricciardo. Verstappen finished 4th.
In Austria, Verstappen qualified 3rd, before being promoted to the front row following a 3-place grid penalty for Lewis Hamilton; Gasly was 9th for the second weekend in a row. In the race, despite going into anti-stall at the start and falling to 8th, Verstappen came back through to win, to give Honda their first win since 2006, as well as his first win since Mexico the previous year, and the first non-Mercedes win of 2019. Gasly finished down in 7th and was lapped by Verstappen, putting his Red Bull seat further into question.
In Britain, Verstappen qualified 4th, with Gasly 5th. On Lap 37, the Dutchman overtook Sebastian Vettel into Stowe, before being rear-ended by the German; he went on to finish 5th, with Gasly in 4th. (Also, on Lap 12, Red Bull broke the record for the fastest pitstop with Gasly, with 1.91 seconds - this beat the previous time of 1.92 seconds, jointly held by Red Bull and Williams and had stood since 2013).