Here is a new guest blog by Alex Goldschmidt on the rise of Red Bull..
In all honesty, it is more than just surprising how quickly Red Bull Racing have risen through the ranks, it is truly astonishing how they, in such a short time, have risen like a phoenix from the ashes of Jaguar Racing, which was the former mantle for the now 2-time world Driver and Constructor Champions, that arrived on the Formula One scene just six years ago.
Click "read more" to see the whole story..
Granted, their first attempts in trying to become a premier team early in their beginnings were unsuccessful, but little did we know that there was a storm brewing that would change the landscape of technical advancements as we now know. The first time Red Bull really became a strong contender was early in 2009, when Honda became Brawn GP, with Jenson Button winning the first race in the season, but Red Bull showed great promise, even though they were one of the first teams to complain about the blown diffuser that Brawn GP had developed for the 2009 season when they were still Honda. But rather than just wait for the FIA to release their legality verdict, they carried on developing their own version.
One of the aces up Red Bull's sleeve was that of talented F1 engineer and genius, Adrian Newey, who had helped to inspire, design and produce championship-winning cars for both McLaren and Williams in years gone by, and had even helped the Indycar Series in the early 1980s, to help produce the chassis for the March team, with the 85C chassis going on to win several races in the Series, including the 1984 Indy 500.
He joined Red Bull in 2006, after leaving McLaren, where he had a very successful tenure as an engineer, and joined the team led by Christian Horner, and didn't really have any sort of dramatic input in the 2006 car, which did have some success. 2007 seemed to provide more stability to the team, as Red Bull switched to the Renault RS26 F1 engine, which was reasonably fast, but was quite unreliable, with both drivers at the time, David Coulthard and Mark Webber, each retiring 7 times during the 17-race season.
In 2008, the Red Bull RB4 had the most advanced and complicated chassis ever to come out of the Red Bull Technology factory in Milton Keynes, and they had resolved the reliability issues that had dogged them throughout the previous season. But by not being able to keep up with their rivals in the paddock, and by the end of the season, they had been in the hunt for 4th place in the Constructors' championship, but only picked up 5 points in the last 10 races.
But 2009 really showed the promise that had been ever-lingering in the shadows, waiting to spring unsuspectingly on their rivals. Renault, who had been a title sponsor for Red Bull for the last couple of seasons, were finally able to equalize the difference in engine power with the authority of the FIA, compared to the opposition after there was a 10 year freeze on engine development regulation imposed, and with it came the heart of the Red Bull chassis, the RS27 engine, with the 2.4 litre V8 powerhouse from the Renault Sport F1 engine team looking to secure further title glory with Red Bull.
The RB5 secured its first Pole Position in China that year, with Sebastian Vettel winning the race the following day. The car had only showed a fraction of its capabilities, as the race was in the wet, but with the updates for the car coming thick and fast, it wasn't long before Vettel was in the hunt for the title, chasing Jenson Button with enthusiasm and vigour. But it was to no avail, as Button wrapped up the title that year by finishing fourth in Interlagos, with Vettel's inexperience altogether too much for the young German from Heppenheim.
But 2010 and 2011 would be the swansong for the Cinderella story for such a young team, with Vettel and Webber both in the hunt for the Driver's title last year, with Sebastian picking up both titles back-to-back, making him the youngest in history, beating Fernando Alonso's record from 2006, which was also secured by a Renault-engined car. The team are now up there with the greats of McLaren and Ferrari, with more entries in the history books yet to be written, as Infiniti, a part of the Renault-Nissan alliance are another brand partner with the team, helping Red Bull with further technologies to be explored, as well as the Renault engine partnership recently being extended to 2016. This is where the emphasis on engine technology will take a dramatic step in 2013, with the teams having to use a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, electric power for the pits, and the evolution of the KERS systems. With the way Renault strive to provide Red Bull with successful power plants, it is only a matter of time before we see Vettel possibly become one of the greatest drivers in the sport, along with Schumacher, Senna, Prost, Fangio and many others.
The story isn't over yet, not by a long shot..Watch this space.
Thank you Alex for that great guest blog, if you are interested in writing for TalKFromJackLeslieF1 then go to the 'Contact' page for more information.
Follow Alex on twitter @EyeofAlexg1977 or go to his blog http://alexgoldie.wordpress.com/ where he recently interviewed me.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
Click "read more" to see the whole story..
Granted, their first attempts in trying to become a premier team early in their beginnings were unsuccessful, but little did we know that there was a storm brewing that would change the landscape of technical advancements as we now know. The first time Red Bull really became a strong contender was early in 2009, when Honda became Brawn GP, with Jenson Button winning the first race in the season, but Red Bull showed great promise, even though they were one of the first teams to complain about the blown diffuser that Brawn GP had developed for the 2009 season when they were still Honda. But rather than just wait for the FIA to release their legality verdict, they carried on developing their own version.
One of the aces up Red Bull's sleeve was that of talented F1 engineer and genius, Adrian Newey, who had helped to inspire, design and produce championship-winning cars for both McLaren and Williams in years gone by, and had even helped the Indycar Series in the early 1980s, to help produce the chassis for the March team, with the 85C chassis going on to win several races in the Series, including the 1984 Indy 500.
 |
| (c) Wikimedia |
In 2008, the Red Bull RB4 had the most advanced and complicated chassis ever to come out of the Red Bull Technology factory in Milton Keynes, and they had resolved the reliability issues that had dogged them throughout the previous season. But by not being able to keep up with their rivals in the paddock, and by the end of the season, they had been in the hunt for 4th place in the Constructors' championship, but only picked up 5 points in the last 10 races.
But 2009 really showed the promise that had been ever-lingering in the shadows, waiting to spring unsuspectingly on their rivals. Renault, who had been a title sponsor for Red Bull for the last couple of seasons, were finally able to equalize the difference in engine power with the authority of the FIA, compared to the opposition after there was a 10 year freeze on engine development regulation imposed, and with it came the heart of the Red Bull chassis, the RS27 engine, with the 2.4 litre V8 powerhouse from the Renault Sport F1 engine team looking to secure further title glory with Red Bull.
The RB5 secured its first Pole Position in China that year, with Sebastian Vettel winning the race the following day. The car had only showed a fraction of its capabilities, as the race was in the wet, but with the updates for the car coming thick and fast, it wasn't long before Vettel was in the hunt for the title, chasing Jenson Button with enthusiasm and vigour. But it was to no avail, as Button wrapped up the title that year by finishing fourth in Interlagos, with Vettel's inexperience altogether too much for the young German from Heppenheim.
But 2010 and 2011 would be the swansong for the Cinderella story for such a young team, with Vettel and Webber both in the hunt for the Driver's title last year, with Sebastian picking up both titles back-to-back, making him the youngest in history, beating Fernando Alonso's record from 2006, which was also secured by a Renault-engined car. The team are now up there with the greats of McLaren and Ferrari, with more entries in the history books yet to be written, as Infiniti, a part of the Renault-Nissan alliance are another brand partner with the team, helping Red Bull with further technologies to be explored, as well as the Renault engine partnership recently being extended to 2016. This is where the emphasis on engine technology will take a dramatic step in 2013, with the teams having to use a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, electric power for the pits, and the evolution of the KERS systems. With the way Renault strive to provide Red Bull with successful power plants, it is only a matter of time before we see Vettel possibly become one of the greatest drivers in the sport, along with Schumacher, Senna, Prost, Fangio and many others.
The story isn't over yet, not by a long shot..Watch this space.
Thank you Alex for that great guest blog, if you are interested in writing for TalKFromJackLeslieF1 then go to the 'Contact' page for more information.
Follow Alex on twitter @EyeofAlexg1977 or go to his blog http://alexgoldie.wordpress.com/ where he recently interviewed me.
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