Current Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing

FIA Entry: Red Bull Racing Renault
Car 1: Sebastien Vettel
Car 2: Mark Webber
Engine: Renault V8
Team Owner: Dietrich Mateschitz
Team Principal: Christian Horner
Chief Technical: Office Adrian Newey
Chief Designer: Rob Marshall
Race Engineer Car 1: Guillaume “Rocky” Rocquelin
Race Engineer Car 2: Ciaron Pilbeam

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 2005
Races Entered 107
Race Wins 15
Pole Positions 20
Fastest Laps 12
Driver World Championships 1
Constructor World Championships 1

Team History

Before Red Bull

In 1997 Paul Stewart, aided by his father Jackie and the Ford Motor Company, made the leap from F3000 to F1 as an entrant. Jonny Herbert won 1 race for the Stewart team before it was sold off to Ford who re-branded the cars as Jaguar.

Ford stuck with it through thick and thin (mainly thin) through to the end of 2004 before selling the team to Dietrich Mateschitz, who owns the Red Bull drinks brand, for $1 on the understanding he invested $400 million over 3 years

Red Bull Racing

With Christian Horner installed as team principal, McLaren refugee David Coulthard and Christian Klien as the drivers Red Bull went racing. Their first season was certainly more successful than Jaguar had managed, even with the same Cosworth power plant, with Coulthard managing a 4th place at the European Grand Prix and the team finishing 7th in the Constructors Championship.

Adrian Newey joined from McLaren as chief designer for 2006 and Red Bull swapped to Ferrari engines. Coulthard managed a podium at his "home" race in Monaco prompting Christian Horner to jump naked, other than wearing a red cape, into a swimming pool.

Christian Klien, who shared the car with Vitantonio Liuzzi in 2005 and Robert Doornbos in 2006, departed the team for 2007 and was replaced by Mark Webber. The RB3 was the first full "Newey" car and was coupled with a Renault motor. The car was very unreliable, suffering from a variety of different problems but Webber managed a podium at the European Grand Prix and the team finished 5th in the WCC.

Retaining the same engine and drivers for 2008 Red Bull slipped back to 7th in the WCC and again only managed a single podium, for Coulthard in Canada, but the reliability issues which plagued the car the previous season were mainly resolved.

2009 was Red Bull's break through year. With Coulthard having retired Webber was joined by Red Bull junior driver Sebastien Vettel. The new rules allowed Newey to design a car which challenged for both the Drivers and Constructors Championship. Webber won 2 races, Vettel 4 and the team climbed to 2nd in WCC taking 3 pole positions en-route.

In 2010 Red Bull justified Mateschitz's investment winning the Constructors title and Vettel the Drivers Championship. They won 9 races through the season, 5 for Vettel and 4 for Webber and took 10 poles. Webber led the title race for much of the season but it was the 23 year old Vettel who stole the title in the last race of the season and became the youngest Champion as a result.

2011 sees the team retain the same driver line up as 2010 and continue with Renault engine power in the new RB7 car.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Presumably Ferrari are getting the fuel from Shell, who are one of Ferrari's sponsors and will have no obligation to provide fuel to RBR.

 

[Grizzly]

ahhh so thats the real issue then. Ferrari have really developed their fuel recently which has really increased the performace of the engine.

I reckon Ferrari have said you can have the engine but you can't have the fuel and Red Bull have had a strop.

I would expect that to be the case.

Presumably Ferrari are getting the fuel from Shell, who are one of Ferrari's sponsors and will have no obligation to provide fuel to RBR.

Yep. Total provide RBR fuel and I would expect that to cease with the Renault contract. [Naturally] RBR will want to adopt the Ferrari/Shell fuel to avoid a McLaren 2014 situation of starting blind.

 

[Titch]

Who knows, they (and Torro Rosso) may really leave F1 at Abu Dhabi, which would be a shame, especially as Manor's finances must be pretty much touch and go, and lets face it McLaren aren't exactly making money.
I can see F1 coming to crisis point very soon.

 

[Road of Bones]

I thought that too Titch - if Mateschitz did flounce off with his ball after Abu Dhabi, it could cripple F1 irretrievably. You would not have thought there were sufficient investors out there to buy 2 spare F1 teams without an engine deal to their name, and a truncated grid is not much of a spectacle for his Eccleship to use to squeeze circuits for more cash to feed his ravenous partners. With McLaren residing in one of the MTC pot-plants, Honda engines being risibly ineffective, Renault apparently dithering over the Lotus deal nuances with no real hope of being competitive in 2016 (and still running the Venezuelan race-track blight ffs), you'd end up with Hamilton vs Vettel as they pick their way around the Manors, Saubers and Forced Indians after a handful of laps each weekend. I'm sure I could find more profitable uses for 20 or 21 of my weekends next year, at least...

 

[Incubus]

I can see F1 coming to crisis point very soon.

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...and if it does F1 will only have itself to blame.

Cost-cutting? Non-existant testing? Ah yes, so what did they do next? Introduce a new engine formula in 2014 using power units that saw engine maintenance costs rocket skywards and extend the financial gap between the high and lower end of the grid for what seems like wider levels than ever.

 

[Greenlantern101]

if Mateschitz did flounce off with his ball after Abu Dhabi, it could cripple F1 irretrievably.

I really don't get this reverence with red bull. Teams come and go in F1 and red bull are nothing special. Ok they have 4 cars, but so what. Haas are coming in next year and even if red bull do leave, the grid will only be down 2 cars, sum total.

A bit of perspective is needed here. We are are not talking about an old core team like Ferrari, McLaren or Williams leaving. We are talking about a team that has only been around since 2005.

How them leaving would 'cripple F1 irretrievably' is beyond me.

 

[Andyoak]

It's not what was done that's the problem but how it was implemented.
You could have cost cutting in testing by doing them at race weekends in Europe.
You could have cost cutting on engine development by introducing a sale cost cap on engines.
You could have cost cutting with fuel capacity restrictions.
You could have cost cutting with tyres that last race distance.
You could have cost cutting with better distribution of prize money.
All been said before but will never be implemented through self interest by the teams and sport and promotion management.

 

[Andyoak]

Red Bull leaving would damage F1 for a couple of seasons at worst.
But there are many more things that could causer greater long term damage.

 

[Grizzly]

Quite right GL.

Anyone overheard using words like crisis and irrevocable to describe a speculated Red Bull exit will certainly earn many brownie points with Mateschitz, however!

 

[Titch]

But how much longer before the old core team McLaren throw in the towel?

 

[Incubus]

Anyone overheard using words like crisis and irrevocable to describe a speculated Red Bull exit /QUOTE]

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Nothing even to do with Red Bull as far as I'm concerned. Only to do with sheer numbers. To me F1 has been in crisis for a long time ever since grids have stopped being filled to their full capacity. A mere 20 cars on the grid is crisis point. The prospect of an 18-car grid is a worse crisis.
To my mind a full-capacity 26-car grid is the only satisfactory grid.

 

[Road of Bones]

I stand by my comments.
Look - I couldn't give a hoot for Mateschitz or his disgusting beverage, but the simple fact of "the curtain coming down after Abu Dhabi" as the loathsome Marko has put it, would do unbelievable harm to F1. To have 2 teams suddenly disappear, with their recent competitive pedigree, be just a mere blip in the great illustrious history of F1? I don't think so. Look at the context - F1 has lurched from one crisis to another over the last few years, the head of the FIA is effectively absent, Bernie is frantically flogging whatever race he can to whomever will buy his promises, the fan-base is dwindling (don't tell me that it isn't), no car-makers seem to be interested in signing up anymore (and given recent news, you can't see VW suddenly deciding F1 is a worthy investment, can you?). I just can't see how F1 would recover if Red Bull did pull out.

We all know it's just a bargaining tactic anyway...one has to wonder if Ferrari are happy having their arm twisted in such a way, before they've even delivered an single power unit though.

 

[Grizzly]

Incubus/RoB: You could argue that F1 has spent more time in crisis than not since it's conception, but it's a much bigger question than simply Red Bull's involvement in the sport. Don't get me wrong, they are a major part of the circus and have been for 20 or so years. They would leave some bruises, but bruises heal.

If they broke some bones, even better, bones heal stronger....

 

[Il_leone]

Red Bull leaving F1 would be a huge void given what they have achieved recently but no one should feel sorry for them for getting themselves into this position in the first place
The only people I feel sorry for are the 4 outstanding young drivers they have whose career may be cut short and the engineers back at Milton Keynes. Christian Horner will probably spend the rest of his life shagging Geri Halliwell unless he wants to try and be a singer

Bernie would not mind Red Bull leaving because it dilutes the power of the team against him and Dietrich has had big influences in F1. The Austrian GP may go too as well

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Incidentally I think all the recent issues with VW lying about emissions tests might force them to team up with Red Bull to help crack US market

 

[erinha]

Bernie would not mind Red Bull leaving because it dilutes the power of the team against him and Dietrich has had big influences in F1.

Is that why he's talking about Marchionne wanting to supply RB with engines but being "frightened" to do so.

Red Bull, and apparently Ecclestone too, are pressuring Ferrari into giving them works engines. And they are using press to apply the pressure. Imo Ferrari would be very unwise to give them what they wanted, and if Marchionne caves in it would be a big mistake for his new management too. Setting example by giving way to their threats is not a good way. He'd be putting his team at a very disadvantageous position. And Ferrari are not responsible for providing Formula 1 fans with some fun at the expense of their success.

 

[Incubus]

Bernie would not mind Red Bull leaving because it dilutes the power of the team against him and Dietrich has had big influences in F1. The Austrian GP may go too as well

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Really? Actually I think what Bernie is trying to do when he comes on with all this "frightened" talk is precisely to ensure Ferrari supply Red Bull by making it look as though they would lose face if they didn't...

 

[RasputinLives]

Bernie won't let Red Bull go without a fight because of the huge brand it is and the money it makes him

I imagine cutting a deal where Ferrari get even more of the TV revenue and a say in the rules of the sport for the supply of engines as we speak.

 

[teabagyokel]

Hamilton vs Vettel next year will be no crisis, if it happens. Hamilton on his own will be F1 in ill-health.

F1 survives teams' departures easily. I
Uncompetitive running, less so.

 

[Il_leone]

Bernie off course needs F1 to be competitive and another season where Mercedes romps away in the power train era is not good for F1

For the short term maybe Bernie needs Red Bull to stay but long term probably not if he still wielding power in a zimmer frame

 

[Il_leone]

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