Tuesday 10th February 2009

Red Bull Unveils New F1 Car

Fighting talk from confident Red Bull team

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Red Bull has unveiled its new Renault-powered RB5 and in a shock move for F1…it’s actually pretty good looking. The team is in fighting form too and looking to snatch some wins from the likes of McLaren and Ferrari this season.

The car was unveiled by Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who steered the first-ever Red Bull-designed car to victory in the Italian Grand Prix last year. Team boss Christian Horner said there was ‘no reason’ why the team could not fight for the top spots.

‘The new rules present an opportunity for teams to compete on a more level playing field,’ Horner said. ‘The regulation changes almost constitute a new formula for the sport and it will be interesting to see how the teams interpret them,’ he added.

Vettel gave the car its first outing at Jerez this week. The most obvious change of rules is the return of slick tyres, while the advent of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) should serve to level the playing field in the coming season.

The designer of the RB5, Adrian Newey, said that few components or concepts had been carried over from the 2008 car due to the new regulations. ‘2009 arguably sees the biggest rule change since flat bottoms were introduced in 1983, a very major change,’ the former Williams and McLaren design guru said.

‘We have taken a clean sheet, blue-sky approach, looking at the implications of these rules and how to interpret them, while not changing things simply for the sake of it. Apart from the gearbox internals, there is hardly any carry-over from RB4.’

[Patrick1964]

Car looks good, but I'm not so sure about the bobble hat...

[Curator]

Does it really look good? I'm not a fan of that barn door front shovel matched with a tiddly widdly little rear wing. Also there's no body to the centre of the monocoque any more - looks like an ant's thorax.

[jamieboy]

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

article said:

The designer of the RB5, Adrian Newey,

[ceebmoj]

How come PH is now covering F1 story's? In the past there has been very no coverage of f1 stuff on hear.

[lockup]

article said:

while the advent of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) should serve to level the playing field in the coming season

Er, how's that exactly?

[kieronj]

lockup said:

article said:

while the advent of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) should serve to level the playing field in the coming season

Er, how's that exactly?

Everyone will be electrocuted at some point.

It is one of the nicest F1 cars to be unveiled this year. That's not saying much though. I cannot get on with the small rear wing on F1 cars now. It just looks wrong.

[Nobody You Know]

Thank fook the slick tyres are back, the grooved tyres were one of the most stupid things F1 ever did.

[MogulBoy]

Where's the Ginetta connection?

[motormania]

Nobody You Know said:

Thank fook the slick tyres are back, the grooved tyres were one of the most stupid things F1 ever did.

But they still have those ugly wheel covers - they MUST BE banned.

[BoRED S2upid]

Can anyone find me some odds on Redbull getting third place in the constructors title this year?. Adrian Newey should know a thing or two about building cars by now.

[CypherP]

Curator said:

Does it really look good? I'm not a fan of that barn door front shovel matched with a tiddly widdly little rear wing. Also there's no body to the centre of the monocoque any more - looks like an ant's thorax.

Couldn't agree more. It no longer has an aggressive powerful look, it now just looks like given half the chance it'll leave the track altogether...

Not keen at all on the little rear wing, and i don't like that front wing and the abundance of space between the front wheels either. But in saying all of this, if it drives well AND is driven well, then thats what really counts. I for one am enjoying the F1 reports on PH at the moment

[FlossyThePig]

kieronj said:

lockup said:

article said:

while the advent of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) should serve to level the playing field in the coming season

Er, how's that exactly?

Everyone will be electrocuted at some point.

It is one of the nicest F1 cars to be unveiled this year. That's not saying much though. I cannot get on with the small rear wing on F1 cars now. It just looks wrong.

What happened to the Flybrid mechanical system? I read that McLaren Mercedes were going to use it.

[sprinter885]

That nose cone looks VERY slender & prominent ! Reminds me of those Goon things from Popeye cartoons.

[Oli S]

ceebmoj said:

How come PH is now covering F1 story's? In the past there has been very no coverage of f1 stuff on hear.

We thought you might like it

[dwilkie]

They used the word "Blue Sky Approach" - red card PH

That phrase is verboten. Along with "Leveraging Potential" and "Web 2.0"

[kieronj]

FlossyThePig said:

kieronj said:

Everyone will be electrocuted at some point.

It is one of the nicest F1 cars to be unveiled this year. That's not saying much though. I cannot get on with the small rear wing on F1 cars now. It just looks wrong.

What happened to the Flybrid mechanical system? I read that McLaren Mercedes were going to use it.

Some are using mechanical, some electrical. I don't know the exact split but I believe more are using the electrical than the flywheel system.

Pretty certain Ferrari, Force India, Toro Rosso, Red Bull and BMW are using electronic.

[hill79]

They've clearly taken inspiration for the design from the animal kingdom, I'm guessing either mallard or swan.

[cvegas]

I am eagerly awaiting the sart of the new season. Hopefully we will see teams like Red Bull and Williams challenge for wins. Sticking out like they do, I think the nose cone loss per race will be high.

[Eric Mc]

It certainly is the most interesting of the cars unveiled so far. Trust Newey to come up with something a bit different. I have to say though, those new front wings look awfully vulnerable.

[Joe911]

It seems to have some aero appendages near but not apparently connected to the mirrors - outside of the side-pods .... surely not allowed?