Red Bull Racing team has transformed into a front-runner in Formula 1 grid in past two years. The Red Bull team is just 6 years old and has already captured a constructors and a driver’s championship within the short span of time.
The Red Bull Racing team is an Austrian team which is based in Milton Keynes, England. Red Bull Racing Team is a successor of Jaguar Racing team which was bought by the energy drink maker Red Bull on the final day of its sale. The team is managed by Christian Horner who is a former racer and also the boss of Arden International GP2 Series team.
Adrian Newey who is also known as ‘The Schumacher of design’ is the designer and the Technical Chief of the team and since he joined the team, Red Bull has emerged as a successful team on the grid.
Currently, the team has signed Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber as their race drivers. Vettel is the reigning world champion where as Mark Webber finished third in the driver’s standing in 2010 season. The Red Bull Racing team is powered by Renault Engines.
These are the things and people who are contributing to the rise of Red Bull Racing team but, what are the things that make the energy drink makers so fast on the Formula 1 grid? Red Bull Racing has achieved so much in a very small span of time that others had not.
Red Bull racing team in its small career already has so much to cheer for. In six years they have recorded 20 P1 finishes and all of them have come in past two years. Apart from that Red Bull Racing team have captured 26 pole positions and 15 fastest laps in their short career.
Red Bull Racing team has emerged as a winner in the recent times and have overshadowed established teams like Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. Now we should look at the development of the Red Bull year by year.
Ups and down in first two seasons
The first season of the Red Bull team was the huge leap after overtaking the Jaguar Racing. Red Bull Racing team finished at the seventh place in the constructor’s standings. The Red Bull team in the first two races of the season managed to score more points than Jaguar had scored in the previous season.
The 2006 season proved difficult for the Milton Keynes based outfit. David Coulthard scored the team’s first podium in the Monaco GP but, only to finish with 18 points much less than the 2005 season. In-spite of Ferrari power at the back the energy drink makers faced a growing and stiff competition from their sister team Torro Rosso.
Moderate seasons and competition from Torro Rosso 2007-08
Red bull racing team signed Adrian Newey as their Technical Chief and designer. However, Adrian wasn’t able to perform any miracle with the team in his first season. Adrian’s RB3 registered at least one retirement in the first seven races of season. However, with the mid-season updates, the reliability of the car improved and the team recorded its best finish when Coulthard finished on fifth and Mark Webber finished on the podium. The 2008 season proved more difficult for the team when they were totally overshadowed by the sister team Torro Rosso. The Renault powered RB4’s best finish was in Canada when they finished third with David Coulthard. The sister team Torro Rosso also scored their first race win before Red Bull at soaked Italian GP. The season proved much difficult for the team and they finished on seventh overall in the constructors standing behind the sister outfit.
Break through and world champions 2009-10
The strong driving lineup, advanced Red Bull technology and Adrian Newey converted Red Bull into a race wining package. Red Bull racing team registered their first one-two finish at the Chinese GP with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull finished second in the constructors standing behind Brawn GP but, they dominated the latter part of the season. They totally outpaced Ferrari and McLaren at every GP. The reliability and the pace of the car was good but some missed opportunities because driving errors cost Red Bull constructors and driver’s title.
In 2010 Red Bull captured both the constructors and the driver’s championship and once again outpaced Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel won the driver’s title after out pacing his teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. In the championship year Red Bull captured a total of 15 pole positions with 10 going to Vettel and five going to Webber. Red Bull also scored six fastest laps three each by both the drivers. Red Bull finished the year with a total of 9 Grand Prix victories with five going to Sebastian Vettel and four going to Mark Webber.
Much left in the tank
The 2011 season has this far witnessed a total dominance of the energy drink makers. Vettel has captured 6 pole positions out of 7 this year. Red Bull is currently lying at the top of the constructor’s championship with 222 points way ahead of McLaren’s 161. The 2011 season has seen a total dominance of the Austrian team and right now there isn’t a team which is close to them.
The drivers lineup, huge investments poured in Red Bull Technology, the design of Adrian Newey and the continuous development has converted this team into one the best teams on the Formula 1 grid.
