[F1line] Red Bull's Test Livery: Groovy Man

[F1line] Red Bull's Test Livery: Groovy Man Feb 1, 2015 12:06:32 GMT -6

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Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 1, 2015 12:06:32 GMT -6

Red Bull RB11 breaks cover at Jerez

That's how they rolled...

With the first test kicking off in Jerez, Spain today, Red Bull became the ninth and final team to launch its new car for the 2015 Formula 1 season.

The four-time world champions’ new car will take part in testing in an eyecatching black and white camouflage livery before switching to the regular Red Bull colors for the start of the season in March.

Many racing teams use a similar black and white design on their prototype cars for testing, making it more difficult to be photographed and analyzed.

Red Bull opted to maximize its development time on the new car as it looks to bounce back from a difficult 2014 campaign. Despite winning three races, the team relinquished both world titles as Mercedes dominated proceedings, prompting a number of improvements for the new RB11.

“The design of the RB11 has been very much about understanding what we learned from last season, which was a big regulation change as far as the power unit is concerned and the packaging that goes with that and setting about optimizing the car from those lessons,” chief technical officer Adrian Newey explained.

Beneath the groovy design, the team have concealed some significant updates to the new car. Naturally, the nose is revised and lowered as per the regulations, but they've also focused on changing the shape of the car to help the power unit wherever possible. The team admit they have been pushing hard to get the car ready on time, and that they were stretched to their limit to be ready today, so an evolution of the car can be expected over the three weeks of testing.

Adrian Newey, although taking a step back from Formula One, still has plenty of input but delegates many day-to-day responsibilities to chief engineering officer Rob Marshall. The changes to the engineering department may take some time for the team to get used to, but Newey is still getting to have his say, including "the layout of the car, the package, and really trying to eke every bit of performance out of it." So, pretty much what he's always done.

There are some changes that affect the shape of the front of the car but beyond that most of the changes are under the skin. We've identified the areas where we can make improvements and we've worked hard on these. There won't be a lot that's visible to the naked eye but a lot of hard work has gone into the bits that are hidden.

- Rob Marshall

One of the RB10’s biggest weaknesses was its Renault power unit, with the French manufacturer falling behind in the 2014 pre-season and never making up the gap.

However, after the collapse of Caterham and Lotus’ switch to Mercedes power, Renault now exclusively powers the Red Bull-owned teams – Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso – which team boss Christian Horner believes will be hugely beneficial.

“The relationship with Renault is a lot closer now,” he explained. “Red Bull is the only partner for Renault now, through ourselves and Toro Rosso, and that focus from Renault together with a close involvement with our design team is yielding good results and a far closer integration between the power unit and the chassis side.

“Working in unison with Renault we can really make some big steps forward this year.”

“We have been working very hard with our partners Renault to help them develop the engine,” Newey added. “What we have to remember is that the internal combustion engine and its very complicated associated items, the ERS and turbocharger, are long lead time items.Those are things where if one team takes an advantage then it takes time to overthrow that or get back on a par with or hopefully ahead.”

“Those are things where if one team takes an advantage then it takes time to overthrow that or get back on a par with or hopefully ahead.”

With Daniel Ricciardo now leading the team in the post-Vettel era, Red Bull will be hoping that an improved pre-season will put it in good stead for a title challenge in 2015. Although the gap to Mercedes is great, if the engine deficit can be made up, the team could yet fight for a fifth set of championships this year.

There are positives and negatives to Red Bull's ongoing relationship with Renault into another season. Red Bull and Toro Rosso are the only remaining customers for the French manufacturer, which means they'll get plenty of attention, but it also means there's a lack of data going to be coming in from the test. Ricciardo was first on track in the car for Jerez testing, and ended the morning with smoke pouring from there of the car.

Despite the issues, Ricciardo was feeling positive about the car, saying:

"We didn’t do a whole lot of laps but definitely more than at this test last year! In general everything is behaving as it should." The team are happy to get testing off to a slow start and gradually build up as they learn about the new machinery. Team boss Christian Horner has only one aim for the season: "Our target is to close the gap down and put Mercedes under as much pressure as we possibly can... I believe that with the RB11, with the drivers we have and with the new structures put in place we should be able to do that."

The RB11. More than just black and white… #CamoBull #RB11 pic.twitter.com/qvgy59WStf

— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 1, 2015

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Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 1, 2015 12:06:32 GMT -6

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