Red Bull Racing has put together this nifty video guide for the 2014 F1 season. You’ll see our Daniel and their Sebastian go through the key points of difference between the 2013 cars and the new and so far troublesome RB10. If only the team’s pre-season testing went as smoothly as this!
The design of the latest crop of Formula 1 cars, in response to new aero and crash regulations, has certainly encouraged plenty of discussion. The twin-tusk nose of the Lotus E22 (above) is certainly one of the most bizarre design solutions in the history of the sport.
Once the racing starts the novelty gawking at these god awful designs should ease and we can focus on what we love most, and that’s racing. In the meantime we bring you a gallery of 66 images from the recent pre-season test in Bahrain, six photos each of all 11 cars, that show you the class of 2014 in their best and worst angles.
A small pat on the back, too, goes to Eric Gandelin, the man responsible for the Sauber C33. We think that’s the best looking car of 2014. Although, a nod of appreciation also goes to the Williams FW36.
Those responsible for the horrors of the Caterham CT05 and Force India VJM07 should hang their heads in shame. As for the rest, a good hard look at themselves wouldn’t hurt!
Mark Webber reckons Australia’s next great F1 hope, Daniel Ricciardo, has the skills to match it with his new Red Bull Racing teammate four-time world champion Sebatsian Vettel. At least as far as qualifying goes, anyway.
“I think he’ll give Seb a real hard time in qualifying,” said Mark. “It’ll be 50:50 in the first year, I reckon.”
Webber says the dramatic changes to F1’s aerodynamic regulations could be the key for Ricciardo.
“I took a few off Seb last year—and the blown floor is gone now,” Webber told Motor Sport magazine. “I think Daniel will be fine, and it certainly won’t hurt him that he’s come through the Red Bull system. I just hope he gets better starts than I did!”
It would be no mean feat for Daniel to fulfill Webber’s qualifying predicition. As Mark says himself, Vettel has few peers when it comes to a one-off flying lap even though he rates Fernando Alonso as the best driver he raced against.
“I always thought Fernando was the best, and I still do—on Sundays,” he said. “On one lap, though, I think Seb’s got him covered—and I’m talking in terms of preparation, not just pace.
“Fernando’s had a lot of poles in his time, but probably age has come into it—you lose a little bit. In the race, though, he’s got more strings to his bow than anyone else, and he’s relentless.
“Seb’s strengths, as we know, are escaping at the start, and running in clean air—when you get these things in clean air now, it’s a whole other story, in terms of tyres and so on. He’s like a computer, isn’t he? His only weakness was always fast corners.”
Some interesting comments from Mark there. And good work from Motor Sport magazine to get that many words from him without one “obviously” in there.
[Source: ESPN F1 | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
After two days of winter testing in Jerez what have we learned about the Formula 1 class of 2014, specifically these horrid looking new cars? Well, not a lot to be honest.
On day 1 most teams struggled and only 93 laps were completed by the teams in attendance, and none at all by McLaren. Kimi Raikkonen (1:27.104) was fastest in his return for Ferrari and ran the most number laps on the day at just 31. Lewis Hamilton (1:27.820) sent his Mercedes towards the top of the lap charts in his 18 laps before sending it into the wall after a front wing failure.
“We had a lot of new things to learn today,” Raikkonen said afterwards. “Even if we would have liked to do more laps, I think that for a first day it was alright. Towards the end, when the track was damp, we chose not to take any risks. Now we have a lot of work ahead of us, but all in all, we are pleased with our first day.”
After the leading two drivers times spread out with not much insight to be gained, other than there’s a lot of work to do. Sebastian Vettel and Marcus Ericsson, for example, only ran installation laps and didn’t set any times at all.
Things have become a little clearer on day 2, with all Renault powered teams experiencing problems while Ferrari and Mercedes powered cars gained an early advantage. Overnight rain saw Pirelli bring forward their designated wet weather session and trucks were sent out to ensure the track had sufficient water for testing purposes.
Jenson Button and McLaren had a good day, registering the fastest time in the morning’s wet session and also in the afternoon (1:24.165) when the track was dry.
The 2009 world champion spoke enthusiastically about the MP4-29 afterwards, too. “Of course, it’s still early days, and there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” Button said. “We need to work on both braking and traction; but that excites me, because there’s a lot of potential to adjust those parameters.
“The new braking system is very complicated, and getting it right will be tough. But these are all things we can work on: there’s nothing about the car that unsettles me, and there’s plenty of scope to explore the set-up. It will just take time.”
Kimi Raikkonen (1:24.812) was on the pace again during his 47 laps, cutting more than 2 seconds from his day 1 best. Valtteri Bottas (1:25.344) has had limited running during his two days, just 12 laps in all, but he has been third quickest on both days.
While only fourth fastest on day 2, Nico Rosberg (1:25.588) and Mercedes were happy with their lot. Rosberg racked up an impressive 97 laps, 44 more than his nearest rival, including some beneficial long runs.
“Every lap is important to get used to the new systems and it helped a lot that I have worked on this already in the simulator,” explained Rosberg. “We don’t know yet where we are compared to the other teams, but we can be quite happy after the first two days of testing here in Spain. Now I look forward to getting back in the car on Friday.”
Meanwhile the Renault powered cars managed just 19 laps between them (11 for Caterham, 8 for Red Bull and 0 for Toro Rosso). On day 1 only 19 laps were registered for the Renault runners as well (15 for Toro Rosso, 3 for Red Bull, 1 for Caterham), which will be cause for early concern.
Lotus isn’t an attendance at all for the Jerez test, choosing to wait until testing moves to Bahrain. Marussia is hoping to run its car tonight.
Photos and lap times are available after the break.
UPDATE: Pics from day 2 have now been added below.
Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull career begins in earnest later tonight when he gets his first on-track experience with the RB10, but you sense he’s already in the driving seat.
“It’s a huge opportunity for me to learn,” he said. “It’s a bit of a privilege I guess to have a four time world champion alongside me, to be able to see his data and what he’s doing on track and to try and better myself learning off him.”
Already assured of equal equipment Ricciardo says he hasn’t broached the Multi 21 issue with Sebastian Vettel, but understands his place in the pecking order.
“Obviously I don’t expect to be treated like God—I’m not the world champion—but at the same time I’ve been reassured I’m going to get the equal side, the same length of straw, whatever you want to say,” the 24-year-old said.
“But I’ve got to earn my place in the team as well. It’s nice to know we’re going to have equal stuff but I definitely want, after some time, to let the team know that I’m capable to hopefully get some top results as well.”
Whether it’s the result of team discussion or personal conclusion the Western Australian—only two years Vettel’s junior—has set realistic targets in 2014.
“I haven’t set any expectations in terms of where I’d like to finish,” he told reporters in Jerez. “I’d love to get a win, to stand on the top step would be amazing. But just to go through the year, continuing to learn and to try and match Seb at least at some point.
“And to really set myself up at the front of the grid, not to be a one-hit wonder so to speak.”
[Source: Reuters | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Red Bull Racing has just released studio images of its 2014 F1 car, the RB10. Yes, it has an anteater nose, but thankfully, Adrian Newey has overseen a clever use of paint and carbon fibre to help hide the ugly snout.
Overall, we think this is the best looking car we’ve seen so far in 2014. Thanks only to the disguised nose.
Not only because it is the defending world champion, Red Bull will be the team to watch in 2014. The arrival of Daniel Ricciardo will, of course, keep Australian interest high in the Milton Keynes outfit. It will be fascinating to see how well Daniel manages the step into the team and the expectations that come with.
Red Bull’s approach to the release of info for the RB10 has been low key and after a small series of images there’s an even smaller press release complemented by a quartet of video interviews with Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Adrian Newey and Christian Horner.
It’s also worth noting the press release states the car you’re looking at now is the “first interpretation of F1’s radical new technical regulations”.
Red Bull Racing is entering its tenth Formula 1 season this year and they’ve previewed what is to come by compiling a highlights package of the last nine years.
Their 2014 challenger, the RB10, will be revealed for the first time on 28 January. Presumably that means moments before the first test gets underway, as has been the case in past years.
Just in via twitter, confirmation from Daniel Ricciardo himself, that the new Red Bull Racing driver will be racing with number 3 in 2014 and beyond. Until he earns the right to carry the number 1, of course!
After the break you can see why Daniel chose the number 3.
Here in Australia it’s accepted that four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel plays the pantomime villain to Mark Webber’s hero. As a result Vettel has been harshly judged by most Aussie F1 fans to the point that many find it hard to enjoy any success the young star achieves.
Worse, it’s expected that villain role will continue next season when Vettel pits his wits against the younger Australian F1 hope, Daniel Ricciardo.
In truth, as far as anyone on the outer can tell, Vettel has fast matured from the precocious twerp he was when he first arrived at what has become the sport’s premier team into a sage old man accepting his success with as much grace and humility as one can realistically expect in a sport that is all about massive egos.
And it’s the latter assessment of Vettel’s personality which Red Bull is promoting with this somewhat camp video of him riding a vintage bike through the alps.
Is there anything Red Bull won’t do for Sebastian?
For a bit of light hearted fun Mark Webber was asked by PolePositionP1 to draw his Formula 1 car. As you’ll see in the video after the break Adrian Newey’s future and legacy is pretty safe as Mark decides his skills are inspired by the 1970s.
As you know last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix was the last Formula 1 race for Mark Webber. But it was also the last grand prix for the 2.4 litre naturally aspirated V8 engines we’ve become used to in recent years.
In the Red Bull garage the team decided to send off their Renault RS27 engines with a bang. With its limiter removed the team tried their very best to blow the engine in Mark’s car to pieces. Even at 22,000rpm the engine wouldn’t give up.
It was a spectacularly ear splitting performance from the V8 and the glowing exhausts were equally as impressive. It goes to show how reliable Formula 1 has become as well. Something we’re not so sure we’ll see in Melbourne when the grid first lines up with 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 “power units”.
It’s our turn now to pay respects to Mark Webber’s 12-year Formula 1 career. We’re doing so by offering up a pictorial reminder of Mark’s nine grand prix wins. On the one had his maiden victory at the 2009 German Grand Prix seems like it happened only yesterday. Yet, so much has happened since that great day.
Finally, after years of hard toil, Mark had a winning car under him, but did he have a winning team behind him? The first inkling that some in Red Bull considered him an inconvenience, as Mark once described himself, came in the aftermath of his crash with Sebastian Vettel at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix. The front wing swap controversy followed soon after at Silverstone, leading to Mark’s “Not bad for a number two driver” comment following what must rank as one of his most satisfying wins.
The most decisive point in Mark’s F1 career came during a rainy 2010 Korean Grand Prix, when he crashed out in pursuit of Sebastian Vettel. Mark was leading the world championship at the time and solid result at Yeongam would have helped maintain his charge towards the title.
Sadly for Mark, on the biggest stage, he made a vital mistake and, despite being in the hunt right to the final race, a failure to capture the championship looked inevitable. Having to watch Vettel steal the title during an excruciating Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would have only rubbed salt into Webber’s festering wounds.
The Vettel juggernaut continued in 2011 and a disappointing season was salvaged to a degree with a win at Brazil, before reaching high points in 2012 with repeat victories at Monaco and Britain. More than 500 days have passed since Mark’s last win, which just highlights the gap between he and Sebastian Vettel, who has won 17 grands prix in that time.
One final blow up between Mark and Sebastian occurred earlier this year during the Malaysian Grand Prix, when Vettel defied team orders and overtook Webber on the way to victory. Perhaps that was the final straw Mark needed before signing a long-term deal to go endurance racing with Porsche.
For many fans Mark’s career is one that lies in the “what could have been” category. Mark himself says he has no regrets and is not too proud to admit his shortcomings. His own self-reflection is one of the aspects that makes him so universally liked in F1. Ironically, and tellingly, Mark’s greatest detractor in the sport has come from within his own garage in the form of Helmut Marko.
For now, though, let’s put all those thoughts behind us and revisit the nine perfect Monday mornings Mark delivered to Australian F1 fans. Thanks Mark! We’re looking forward to many more happy Mondays following your move to Porsche.
[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]