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.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Charlie Whiting confirms Red Bull's argument:

Horner also said that Red Bull's appeal case and approach this weekend was based on the fact that the FIA's guidance on the matter came via technical directive, which holds no regulatory value. Whiting – as head of the F1 technical department – agreed that directive was an opinion, but said teams usually followed them as rules.

“Fundamentally the technical directives are opinions – they always have been – given by the technical department to teams,” Whiting said. “Normally they're happy to follow that, but it's always been very, very clear that they can be contested in front of the stewards.

“For nearly 20 years it's been like that and they have been contested probably five times. So it's right to say that they are not regulations, but they are there as an opinion of a technical department and that is how most teams feel that the sport is run. But it can be contested in front of the stewards…”

(emphasis added)


Game, set and match, Red Bull.

 

[teabagyokel]

Red Bull demonstrably, and consistently, broke the fuel flow limit. That's why Ricciardo was disqualified and Maldonado wasn't.

 

[Jen]

I believe Whiting said that Mercedes's tyre testing was OK last year. Not a man to rely on!

 

[Lewywo4]

Especially after Spa in 2008.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Did the Spice Girls do a song called "Total ****"?
If they did I think that's the one.

I think they did one called "A sick, a sick, vomit."

 

[Blog Zbod]

Helmut Marko told Formula1.com they believe the Mercedes engine makes about 80bhp more than theirs. Claims he believes Red Bull's chassis is the superior and it comes down to whether they can close that bhp gap in time (as he slips Bernie a fiver under the table for double points at Abu Dhabi).

Niki Lauda predicted this would be the season of Formula Engine. And much to his delight, he is right.

The RB10's chief problem still is in the software, balancing the functions of the ICE, the Mgu-H and the Mgu-K. There were driveability problems at Melbourne but I've not seen any remarked to at Malaysia, so that bit might have been mended.

Dr. Marko earlier remarked they were writing the software for Renault. Not sure if I mistranslated or if he was not forthcoming but the software originally was written by Renault. Red Bull took over the function out of dissatisfaction with the progress Renault were making.

Naturally, Red Bull have further updates to the software for Bahrain, as well as a raft of new parts, perhaps even the B-spec chassis.

After Malaysia, Autosprint ran this photo, taken during the race:

I suppose the stewards were too transfixed on Ricciardo's fuel sensor transgressions to notice.

 

[Brogan]

Red Bull were reprimanded for that: http://184.106.145.74/f1-championsh...e Malaysian Grand Prix 2014 Document - 50.pdf

 

[Blog Zbod]

Red Bull were reprimanded for that: http://184.106.145.74/f1-championship/f1-2014/f1-2014-02/Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix 2014 Document - 50.pdf

Thank you, I had missed that.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Red Bull were reprimanded for that: http://184.106.145.74/f1-championship/f1-2014/f1-2014-02/Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix 2014 Document - 50.pdf

Am I the only one it strikes queer that a deliberate violation of the rules (sending out an under-equipped pit crewman) only merits a reprimand, but a purely accidental deed (leaving a wheel unsecured) fetches two penalties?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Well Blog Zbod since one only endangers the idiot who did not but his head gear on and the other could kill an innocent person as it nearly did a camera man last year then I am going to put my neck on the line and say that yes you are the only one who thinks that...

 

[Quintessentially]

I therefore invite the forum to inform me what status is appropriate for Christian 'yeah no' Horner? Remember - it has to be bigger than giant arse.

Christian Horny?

 

[Road of Bones]

Marko wagging his finger admonishingly at Renault:

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns27677.html

What's their alternative though? I can't see Mercedes supplying their chiefest rivals, somehow - not now they're the class of the field, at any rate (unless they introduce a "Mark Webber" spec PU, of course...).

 

[FB]

They haven't been doing too badly and are beating all the other Merc powered cars. I can imagine they will get closer through the year and, just perhaps, will welcome the double points for the final race for both Championships

 

[Lewywo4]

Marko wagging his finger admonishingly at Renault:

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns27677.html

What's their alternative though? I can't see Mercedes supplying their chiefest rivals, somehow - not now they're the class of the field, at any rate (unless they introduce a "Mark Webber" spec PU, of course...).

Could Honda be in the cards for Red Bull?

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Doesn't McLaren have some form of exclusivity deal with Honda?

 

[sushifiesta]

I think for next season yes, but not after that.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Could Honda be in the cards for Red Bull?

Mateschitz has hinted they might build their own. He already has his fingers in so many pies, if he should decide to expand into racing engines, you might see him buying Pure or Cosworth, just to have their expertise and facilities to use as a springboard. Or build Red Bull-branded engines under license from one of them.

Red Bull shipped Ricciardo's engine straight to their facility in Paris, still under FIA seal, immediately after Melbourne. They tested it, with independent technical observers present (the FIA declined to send any on legal advice). In the aftermath, they remain convinced they have incontrovertible proof the Gill sensor's reading was horribly wrong, and their fuel rail readings were spot-on.

 

[Quintessentially]

Are you not tired of peddling the same argument for the umpteenth time. Who cares if FIA asked Redbull to fit a rabbit to measure the fuel through its scrotum. They enforce the rules not Horner, Marko or some other pleb to borrow a phrase from Andrew Mitchell. They've been digging themselves a big hole since the disqualification. Let's just hope they don't fall into it.

Boullier talking sense

 

[Lewywo4]

Mateschitz has hinted they might build their own. He already has his fingers in so many pies, if he should decide to expand into racing engines, you might see him buying Pure or Cosworth, just to have their expertise and facilities to use as a springboard. Or build Red Bull-branded engines under license from one of them.

Blog Zbod.....Do you think that Cosworth expertise and infrastructure, can quickly develop a competitive engine on par with Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, and if possible, how long could that take?

 

[Mephistopheles]

There is absolutely no proof whatsoever that RedBulls sensor reading were more accurate than the FIA sensor reading the only thing that is certain is that the RedBull sensor readings were more convenient for the performance of their cars then the FIA's sensors..