Will this car break the Mercedes stranglehold?
Red Bull ended 2017 with arguably the strongest Formula 1 chassis, so has pulled out all the stops to hit the ground running and be in contention from the off this year
Every Formula 1 team is world champion in their own heads at this time of year, before the stopwatch delivers its dose of cold hard reality to all those heady winter dreams of glory. But there is genuine reason for optimism at Red Bull in 2018. After an unexpectedly slow start under F1’s latest aerodynamic regulations, Red Bull finished 2017 with arguably the strongest chassis on the grid. Had the world championship been contested over just the final six races of last season, Max Verstappen would have tied Lewis Hamilton on points and lost the title only on second-place countback. The aim is therefore to come out firing straight from the off in ’18, avoiding the sort of slow start that has become a worrying feature of Red Bull’s development pattern over the past six seasons. The RB14, replete in special pre-season ‘camobull’ disruptive livery, broke cover for the first time at Silverstone on Monday, taking part in a filming day with Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel.
That means Red Bull has hit the track a full week before testing is due to start at Barcelona on February 26. This is an unusual occurrence for a team used to pushing winter deadlines to the absolute limit. It’s indicative of a fresh approach from the squad and its Adrian Newey-led design team, as it seeks to avoid the sluggish beginnings that have hindered its progress over recent campaigns.
“Adrian’s pushed the team very hard again, as he usually does, together with all the other senior technical members here,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner tells Autosport. “It’s been a good winter for the team, in that we’re definitely earlier than we’ve ever been. It’s probably two weeks earlier than we’ve been in any of the previous seven or eight years – probably 10 years.
“Usually, the car would still be being built on the way down to the track for the first test. We’ve made a concerted effort to move that forward. The purpose is to try to arrive at the first test in better shape. The team’s always been strong at developing a car throughout a season, so what we’re trying to do is get ourselves onto the front foot going into the first test.
“We’re hopefully in a position to put in a large quantity of laps. The target is to arrive at Melbourne in better shape than we have in the past couple of years. Even though it’s only moved the process forward effectively two weeks, in order to achieve that the design targets have still been just as aggressive – it’s just that they’ve had to be completed in an even shorter time.
“The way the whole team has risen to that challenge is phenomenal. There’s obviously been a lot of burning the midnight oil in Milton Keynes. We’ve been keeping the fast food companies in good employment over the winter months!”
Red Bull should be in much better shape heading into
2018, having finished last year so strongly and corrected the aerodynamic inconsistencies – traced to problems correlating its windtunnel with Pirelli’s new wider tyres – that stunted initial development of the RB13.
Fitted with a Ferrari-style bargeboard concept for the final leg of last season, that car became a real weapon. The aim with the RB14 is to build on that solid foundation, making allowances for the halo, and fresh restrictions around the engine covers and rear wings, but not attempting to reinvent the wheel. The regulations are largely stable for 2018, so there is no need to get carried away.
“Definitely, the progress we made in the second half of 2017 was impressive and we’ve got to try to take that momentum into the concept of RB14,” Horner agrees. “The car is very much an evolution rather than revolution, but hopefully picking up on the successful themes introduced last season.
“This time of year, you know what you’re doing but you have no idea what your opponents are doing. We’ve kept our heads down and followed the comments coming out from other areas of the UK with interest, but really we’re just focused on our own performance.
“Most of the big teams don’t want to show their hand too early, because it obviously gives the ability for others to copy. Certainly, all the big teams inevitably hold something back just prior to Melbourne. That’s customary practice.
“We’ll have an indication during the Barcelona test – probably the second test more than the first, but really, until
the motor’s wound up and fuel’s taken out of the car when we get to Melbourne, that’s going to be the first litmus test of the initial pecking order.
“It’s very much a development race from the moment the car hits the ground to Abu Dhabi, and I think this year, because the regulations are still pretty immature, there are still considerable gains that can be made. It’s going to be interesting to see what routes different teams have taken over the closed season.”
The FIA’S controversial halo safety device is the biggest visual difference for 2018. It’s also an area that some believe will create variation in design, as teams attempt to incorporate the mandatory structure and minimise the aerodynamic disturbance it causes.
The halo “still hasn’t grown” on Horner, who prefers the aeroscreen system Indycar trialled recently, but says: “Hopefully, in time, we’ll become more accustomed to it.
“It’s a big component high up and it’s very heavy. We’re slightly at odds, because we’ve spent millions of pounds trying to make things as light and sleek as possible, then you introduce what looks like a scaffold pole that adds quite a lot of weight to the car high up. It’s not particularly F1-ish.”
But what’s underneath the bodywork will be of more concern to Red Bull this season – namely the updated Renault engine that will need to be more powerful and significantly more reliable if the RB14 is to stand any real chance of forcing its way into title contention.
Red Bull is potentially the biggest threat to Mercedes, given its usual potency in aerodynamic development, and what Horner calls “the most exciting driver line-up on the grid”.
But, as ever in the V6 era, Red Bull’s chances largely depend on whether Renault can meet its winter targets.
“I don’t think the pecking order is going to change in terms of engine development,” Horner says. “The feedback we’ve had from our engine partner is they’ve had a positive winter so far. They’ve completed a lot of mileage on their dynos, so reliability has been a key factor for them. We’ll wait to see what performance gains come once we get testing.
“I’ve given up trying to second guess, to be honest. We’ve got an open mind. I think it’s been encouraging, the mileage they’ve covered. Obviously, it’s crucial for their own team as well as the customer teams they’re supplying that the engine makes progress because the competition won’t be standing still.”
That’s the great fear looming for Mercedes’ opponents. While Renault, Ferrari and Honda all work on refining their existing concepts for 2018, Mercedes plans to introduce an engine that its technical chief Andy
Cowell suggests will be “pretty much all new”.
Just as the gap between the top manufacturers appears to be closing, prompting suggestions that engine development under the V6 rules is levelling off, Mercedes could be about to take another giant leap forward with its own power, efficiency and reliability.
“It is a concern,” concedes Horner. “I guess it’s a concern for F1 that Mercedes probably didn’t have the best chassis last year, but their other strengths saw them through. If they get their act together on their chassis this year we might not see too much of them.
“But we can only deal with the bits that we control, which is the chassis, the drivers, and I think in both of those areas we’re in good shape. The reality is we’ve just got to do a better job in those areas to try to mitigate whatever gap there is in the horsepower department.”
With Mclaren ditching Honda to join Red Bull on the Renault customer engine programme this season, plus the burgeoning Renault works team looking to latch onto its customers as the campaign wears on, Red Bull could be under pressure from all sides this season.
Horner says Red Bull “don’t underestimate any of our opponents”, but the focus is chiefly on closing the residual gap to Mercedes and Ferrari, especially having pulled out all the stops to re-sign ambitious prodigy Verstappen to a new contract late last season.
“Obviously, the engine regulation change won’t come until 2021 – it’s a long time to be treading water, so our determination is to be as competitive as possible this year, next year, and the year after, and see what Liberty and the
FIA put on the table for ’21,” Horner explains.
“Our job is to be, hopefully, a challenger this year. We’ll grab opportunities where we can. I think we’ve got one of the best driver line-ups in F1, we’ve got a great team, great strength in depth, and, hopefully, if the engine becomes both reliable and a bit more performant, then we can enjoy a competitive season.
“The car is the result of a lot of hard work. It’s been a busy, winter. I think everybody’s looking forward to getting out on track again, and getting going.”
Red Bull arguably looks in better shape than it has done heading into any other year of the V6 era. But soon enough the stopwatch will indicate whether it can finally threaten Mercedes, or is simply set for another season of valiant but fruitless chase.