RED BULL RB14
The chassis king is back on his throne
Although he is preoccupied with other things these days, such as America’s Cup yachts and Aston Martin hypercars, Adrian Newey’s design genius still underpins Red Bull’s deserved reputation for building the most aerodynamically efficient cars in F1. It’s no wonder Mercedes and Ferrari studiously avoid supplying engines to this team, knowing the threat it would pose to their own competitive standing.
Formula 1’s latest aerodynamic rules, drafted to beef up downforce figures and make the cars faster than ever, should be perfectly suited to a team of Red Bull’s talents, one built around Newey’s flair for seeing the ideal airflow structure for a car in his mind’s eye and committing it to canvas. He is almost the Last of the Mohicans – a true artistic visionary among F1’s modern breed of data-crunchers.
Newey took his eye off the ball somewhat in 2017, as Red Bull – the kings of modern F1 aerodynamics – endured an unexpectedly difficult start to life under the new regulations. They went with a low-drag concept that didn’t correlate well between the windtunnel and the track, thanks to unexpected difficulty in accurately modelling the new, wider Pirelli tyres. Once that course was corrected, Red Bull transformed back into their normal selves – developing their car aggressively, quickly and successfully. At low speed, last year’s RB13 was the standout chassis, particularly once it developed greater complexity in its bargeboard and sidepod designs.
The aim with the RB14, according to team principal Christian Horner, is to build on the successful concepts of RB13. Visually, the RB14 is stunning – very detailed and incredibly tightly packaged. It certainly caught the eye of Mercedes technical director James Allison, who singled Red Bull out for praise during pre-season testing in Barcelona.
Red Bull retain a shorter wheelbase than Mercedes and Ferrari, while following Ferrari in running short sidepods, which allows plenty of space to optimise the vital bargeboard area ahead of the radiator inlets. Red Bull are extraordinarily adept at developing their cars over a season – a trait that underpinned their title success in the latter days of the V8 era – but this year they imposed earlier production deadlines to arrive better prepared for testing and the early races.
Daniel Ricciardo reckons the team are in finer fettle than at any time since he joined ahead of the 2014 season, so Red Bull should start strongly and gain extra strength, rather than simply using their strength to dig themselves out of trouble.
The key to unlocking performance lies in the Renault engine. Renault’s difficulties in reliably extracting proper efficiency from this hybrid engine formula have held Red Bull back throughout Ricciardo’s time there. But if they can unlock extra power without compromising reliability, the genius of Newey and his team should do the rest.