2013 F1 Team Preview: Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing are three-time constructors champions and also the reigning champions. How does the upcoming season look for the team? Here is a brief preview.

When they came on to the scene in early 2005, very few people took them seriously. After all, they were just a soft drinks company! But after winning the constructors’ championship three years in a row, they are the team to be beat. The team management is made up of:

1) Christian Horner – Team Principal

2) Adrian Newey – Chief Technical Officer\Technical Director

3) Peter Prodromou – Head of Aerodynamics

4) Rob Marshall – Chief Designer

The driving duties are handled by Sebestian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Sebastian Buemi the development driver. There is pretty little doubt as to the skills of their drivers, with Sebestian Vettel being the youngest triple World champion, and Mark Webber having numerous race wins under his belt. With an unchanged driver line-up, Red Bull have the advantage of stability in the drivers department.

For 2013, Red Bull still look to be the team to beat. Their 2013 challenger, the RB9, is pretty impressive. The RB9 is an evolution of the RB8, according to Newey. So far, after the first two pre-season tests, the RB9 still looks like the class of the field. On the long runs, it has more often than not been the quickest car on the track. Another of its strong points is that the car has pretty low tire degradation. This could be a decisive factor this year, with Pirelli trying to spice up their tires even more. Another significant development which will help Red Bull is the ban on the unlimited use of Drag Reduction System, or DRS. From this season, DRS can only be used on the FIA specified DRS zones during the weekend. This is very good news for Red Bull. Due to their low straight-line speeds, they would often lose time on the straights to teams such as McLaren and Mercedes, which had pretty effective drag reduction systems.

The team has always excelled at in-season car development. Last year, during the final race of the season, it was estimated that Red Bull had improved their car by up to 2 seconds compared to the car that was launched at the start of the year. But it holds even more significance this year with the rule change looming ahead in 2014. With the rules changing significantly for the year 2014, every team has to plan out their car development throughout the year to the minutest detail so that the development of the 2014 car does not get hampered.

Overall, in 2013, Red Bull still looks the team to beat, and it will take something very special to dethrone them from their position at the top of the Constructor’s Championship.