Red Bull launch Renault-powered RB10

RB 10

Current champions Red Bull revealed their new car earlier today ahead of the 2014 pre-season testing which began few hours ago in Jerez, Spain.

Chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing, Adrian Newey said after the launch: “Whereas the V8s were a very well-known package, with these power units, the engine itself is easy enough to install, but then of course you’ve got the turbocharger, the intercoolers, and the electrical side in terms of the motor generator units and much bigger batteries,”

“Bigger batteries mean bigger conditioning boxes for the batteries and it also means more cooling for those batteries – that means more radiators on top. Roughly speaking the radiator area on the car has doubled from the V8, and that of course is another challenge.

“It’s the biggest engine change, without doubt, since the turbos disappeared in the late ’80s, arguably much bigger because of the electrical side of it. Renault, our partner, are the big players in terms of the package itself – our job has been to install it in the neatest and most performant way we can.”

He went on to explain a few changes due to the regulations: “What sounds like a small change – the reduction in width of the front wing by 75mm on each side – has a big aerodynamic affect,” “Before, the front wing endplate allowed us to divert the flow off the tip of the wing outside the front wheel.

“Now the front wing endplates are right in front of the front wheel – they’re in about the worst possible place; not inside, not outside. That means the majority of the flow now stagnates in front of the front wheel. A little bit (of air flow) finds its way outside and the rest comes inside, and in doing so makes quite a mess of the front wheel wake.

“The combination of front wing and front wheel wake becomes much bigger and that causes all sorts of problems downstream as you approach the sidepod and the diffuser.”

Red Bull will remain favourites for this season even though team Principal Christian Horner denies so : “I think it’s dangerous sometimes to be over confident that you have all the elements in place for the start of any season,”

“We’ve enjoyed great continuity over the last few years – we’ve got a strong driver line-up, we’ve got a strong tech line-up, we’ve got great strength in depth. But you can’t take anything for granted – Formula One, like any sport, can be unpredictable at times. “

Current world Champion Sebastian Vettel and his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo will be the drivers for this season.