The team traces its lineage to Stewart Grand Prix, founded by three-time world champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul, which debuted in 1997. Ford purchased the outfit in late 1999 and rebranded it Jaguar Racing, but five years of limited success prompted Ford to put the team up for sale in September 2004 when the company concluded it could no longer make a compelling business case for Formula One participation. Red Bull GmbH agreed to purchase Jaguar Racing on 15 November 2004, reportedly paying a symbolic one US dollar in return for a commitment to invest US$400 million in the team over three seasons. Christian Horner was installed as team principal, and David Coulthard and Christian Klien were lined up as the 2005 drivers. The team raced under a British licence from 2005 to 2006 before switching to an Austrian licence in 2007, making it officially the first Austrian constructor to compete in modern Formula One.
Red Bull's involvement in Formula One pre-dated the team purchase; the company had sponsored Sauber from 1995 to 2004 and Gerhard Berger before that, from 1989.
Red Bull's debut season with Cosworth engines in 2005 was considered a significant improvement on the Jaguar years, the team finishing seventh in the Constructors' Championship and accumulating 34 points, more than Jaguar had managed across 2003 and 2004 combined. David Coulthard led the effort, with Christian Klien taking the second seat. In 2006 the team switched to customer Ferrari engines and hired McLaren technical director Adrian Newey, a move that would prove transformational. Coulthard took the team's first podium at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, finishing third. The team finished seventh in the Constructors' Championship with 16 points.
From 2007 the team ran customer Renault engines, and Adrian Newey's design work began to produce increasingly competitive machinery. Mark Webber joined Coulthard for 2007. A breakthrough came at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix when Sebastian Vettel, who had replaced Coulthard for that season, took the team's first pole position and won the race in wet conditions. That victory also ended the winning run of that season's eventual champion, Jenson Button. Vettel and Webber produced further victories in 2009, finishing second and fourth in the Drivers' Championship respectively, with the team runner-up in the Constructors' behind Brawn GP.
In 2010, both Vettel and Webber were in title contention throughout an unpredictable season. Vettel won the final race in Abu Dhabi to claim the Drivers' Championship, while Red Bull simultaneously secured their first Constructors' Championship title. They became the first Austrian team to win the Formula One Constructors' Championship, with Webber and Vettel combining for nine victories and 15 pole positions during the season.
Renault elevated Red Bull to full works partnership status for 2011, rebadging its customer team as Lotus Renault GP. Vettel dominated the season, winning eleven races and 15 pole positions — breaking Nigel Mansell's 1992 pole record — to defend his title. Red Bull scored 650 Constructors' points, 153 clear of McLaren. Vettel won the championship for a third consecutive time in 2012, becoming the youngest triple world champion, surpassing Ayrton Senna. In 2013, under the Infiniti Red Bull Racing banner after Infiniti became title partner, Vettel won his fourth consecutive championship at the Indian Grand Prix, with the team securing its fourth straight Constructors' title. Vettel's season included nine consecutive race victories to close the year.
The introduction of turbo-hybrid power units in 2014 exposed reliability and power deficits in the Renault engine. Daniel Ricciardo, who replaced Webber, won three races including his first Formula One victory in Canada, but the team finished second in the Constructors' behind the dominant Mercedes. Results declined further in 2015 as Renault struggled to close the gap to Mercedes, and Red Bull failed to win a race for the first time since 2008.
The relationship with Renault deteriorated publicly. Christian Horner described Renault's performance as "unacceptable," and for 2016 the team ran Renault engines rebadged as TAG Heuer following the breakdown. Daniil Kvyat was replaced mid-season by Max Verstappen, promoted from Toro Rosso, and at the Spanish Grand Prix Verstappen won on debut, becoming the youngest ever Formula One Grand Prix winner. Red Bull finished second in the 2016 Constructors' Championship. Daniel Ricciardo left to join Renault at the end of 2018 after that season's campaign, which featured his dominant victory at Monaco despite a power unit issue restricting the car significantly throughout the race.
Ahead of the 2019 season Red Bull ended its twelve-year engine relationship with Renault, switching to full Honda power. Pierre Gasly joined Verstappen but was replaced mid-season by Alex Albon after a difficult period. Sergio Perez joined for 2021 as Albon moved to a reserve role.
The 2021 season brought a titanic championship battle between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen secured his first Drivers' Championship on the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi, overtaking Hamilton to win the title — the team's first since 2013. Honda departed Formula One officially at the end of that season, though continued to supply complete power units to Red Bull under a Red Bull Powertrains branding arrangement through 2025.
Verstappen and Red Bull then entered a period of dominance. In 2022, Verstappen won the Drivers' Championship and Red Bull secured the Constructors' title. In 2023, Verstappen won the championship again, with Red Bull also retaining the Constructors' title in one of the most statistically dominant seasons in the sport's history. Verstappen won the 2024 Drivers' Championship as well, though Red Bull lost the Constructors' title to McLaren. In 2025, Verstappen was defeated by Lando Norris in the Drivers' Championship, and McLaren again took the Constructors' title.
Red Bull was also found in breach of the 2021 Financial Regulations by the FIA in October 2022, committing a minor overspend below five percent of the cost cap. An Accepted Breach Agreement announced in October 2022 resulted in a US$7 million fine and a ten percent reduction in permitted aerodynamic research time.
Following the conclusion of their arrangement with Honda, Red Bull signed a deal in 2023 to use Ford-badged power units from 2026, marking a significant new partnership and the return of Ford as a power unit supplier to Formula One.
Red Bull Racing is headquartered at the former Jaguar Racing base and expanded significantly under Red Bull's ownership. A new wind tunnel facility was under development and due to become operational in 2026.