Red Bull RB9 Revealed

There was no live stream for the fans, but the hotly anticipated Red Bull RB9 was launched at the teams headquarters in Milton Keynes.

(c) Red Bull Racing

Adrian Newey's masterpiece was revealed in all its glory, sporting a few differences to its predecessor the RB8. The team hope to "hold on" to the driver and constructors championships that they have taken for the past three years.

The car was revealed to the fans via a YouTube video that was well made and truly helped to see how a Formula 1 car is made. The official launch took place behind closed doors, with some members of the media tweeting their frustration at not being aloud to take a picture.

Red Bull have always been secretive, more than any other team. And rightfully so, after their success and the "dream team" of Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Sebastian Vettel the pressure is on for them to keep the momentum. Adrian Newey said the car was an "evolution" of the RB8, a car that raced to seven victories in 2012.
Gone is the front wing slot, but the RB9 retains the "stepped nose". The feature could have been avoided with the use of a "vanity panel" but Newey did not want the additional weight to be added to the car. 

Another striking difference is the new colour scheme. Like Sauber and Ferrari, the Red Bull have changed their livery colour. This is to match new title sponsors Infiniti, the luxury car brand. The whole team have been re branded, it is now "Infiniti Red Bull Racing" and the website has also had a transformation.


The new car and colour scheme does work well, and the stepped nose is more discreet in comparison to 2012. Red Bull are the team to beat, so expect them to still be at the top.

Adrian Newey said at the launch “It’s a tribute to all the hard work of the guys over the winter because we had a very tight championship battle last year. It was difficult trying to continue development of last year’s car while also doing research into the RB9. Obviously it worked for us, but it gave us a very tight timeframe to design and manufacture this car.

 

“RB9 is an evolutionary car,” he added. “Probably the most significant change is not the regulations, but the new Pirelli tyres. We had a quick test with those in practice ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix but in truth we didn’t learn a lot because of the conditions. Pirelli have supplied us data about how the new tyres behave but past experience tells us that it’s only when we go testing that we really find out.”

 

Vettel and Webber line up as team mates yet again. Vettel goes in to his fifth year at the championship winning squad and said, “We had a very strong finish last season, but it was hard as the season was so long – it was important for me to enjoy being home,” he said. “Pretty soon though I started training again, preparing for the new season and I’m very excited because this is the first time I’ve seen the car in one piece. I’ve seen little bits, but it looks very nice, so now we’ll get to see if it works as expected. I’m excited to get going again, to get back in the car, start testing and then go racing. Then, we’ll finally find out where we are.”

 

Mark Webber spoke about his seventh year at the team, saying  “The fact that this is my seventh season with the team is a massive advantage, I couldn’t have envisaged it when I joined and it’s hard to believe that you could be with the same Formula One team for seven years, as continuity is not always easy to achieve in this sport.

 

“I think the way we keep people excited and motivated here is important,” he added. “It’s quite a small operation, but obviously we’re big on ambition and desire and that makes us perform very well. I’ve really enjoyed the years I’ve had here so far and I can’t wait to get going this season.” 

 

Team Boss Christian Horner extended his contract at Red Bull. He said after the reveal of the RB9  "The 2012 season was tough and long, but our success was testimony to all the hard work and dedication in the factory. We’re fortunate that we’ve been able to maintain continuity within our group. This is the fifth year that this driver pairing has been together. We’ve got continuity throughout all of the technical teams and all the key areas. I think that’s proof that there is a fierce determination to keep both of those trophies in the cabinet for another year.”

 

We will get to see the RB9 in action on Tuesday for the first day of testing at Jerez, by then the Mercedes, Toro Rosso, Marussia and Caterham cars would have been revealed.