Are Red Bull screwed this year or will they pull it out of the bag?

eviltimeban · 31-01-2014 2:28pm #1

So Red Bull have packed up and gone home, on day 4 of testing. They managed, what, 11 laps between them? Some technical car issues and some Renault issues.

They reckon they'll have it all fixed before Bahrain, but do we think they are in serious trouble, or will they get it together in time? They are certainly behind Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and even Williams in terms of track time, and its been highlighted how important the first tests are.

I think they may be behind for the first few races. I would certainly like to see that, and would admire Vettel more if he fought from behind and won / placed well. I would also like to see what Ricciardo can do.

Mike Litoris · 31-01-2014 2:41pm

Its hard to tell. They've had at least one ropey start to a season and won but with everyone having to adapt to huge regulation change it may be too much of a leveler. Firstly it was an engine integration issue then it was cooling. If big changes to both engine and car are needed it will surely have a huge impact on their competativeness at the start of the season.

3 double point races will help them.:rolleyes:

ZiabR · 31-01-2014 2:41pm

Not a chance, they will sort everything out and will be still the favourite for the 5 in a row.

You cannot take too much away from the first test. Some teams dont even know what nose they are going to use yet.

lolie · 31-01-2014 3:24pm

Only time will tell, to early to say yet but it looks like a few Merc teams have the upper hand so far.
A lot could depend on how renault engine fares out.

stevenmu · 31-01-2014 4:16pm

If the only problem was with the car, they could probably get it mostly sorted for the start of the season, and then continue to improve each race.

But if the Renault engine is as bad as the rumours seem to be suggesting then they could be screwed for the first half of the season at least.

Grim. · 31-01-2014 4:43pm

stevenmu wrote: »

But if the Renault engine is as bad as the rumours seem to be suggesting then they could be screwed for the first half of the season at least.

by the sounds of it the problems Renault are having mostly seem to be engine management software related rather than mechanical apart from the feck ups with the batteries on day one

RB and TR pushed their luck with the packaging of their PU and it bit them in the arse

Mike Litoris · 31-01-2014 5:26pm

Autosport reported they had to open up intakes to cool the engine and the Renault problem is software

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112375

Double whammy or is the overheating caused by the "glitches" I wonder?

31-01-2014 5:28pm

Newey historically produces fast, unreliable cars and then improves the reliability over the course of several seasons.

I think they're going to be woefully unreliable this year, and reliability is what's going to win the championship. Im expecting Australia to be wonderfully chaotic.

Frank Bullitt · 31-01-2014 6:03pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Newey historically produces fast, unreliable cars and then improves the reliability over the course of several seasons.

I think they're going to be woefully unreliable this year, and reliability is what's going to win the championship. Im expecting Australia to be wonderfully chaotic.

Just a reminder that he has had some bad ones in the past also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_MP4-18

Slutmonkey57b · 31-01-2014 6:52pm

Let's hope they are in big trouble. We need an interesting season.

Frank Bullitt · 31-01-2014 9:18pm

I don't wish any bad on them, but I think it would be good for F1 if they don't dominate AGAIN!

HigginsJ · 31-01-2014 9:34pm

I think they will be fine. Might not dominate but too many excellent pieces in place to not be a contender

Frank Bullitt · 31-01-2014 11:14pm

Its also another thing to note.

Having overheating issues in a cold Spain could be a bigger concern considering they are going to Bahrain next.

RayM · 31-01-2014 11:19pm

I think they'll probably be fine after a few races, but it's possible that the car is a bit like the 2009 Ferrari and just fundamentally a bit shite. I hope that isn't the case, because they'll end up pouring all their resources into a super-fast 2015 car.

Zcott · 31-01-2014 11:21pm

RayM wrote: »

I think they'll probably be fine after a few races, but it's possible that the car is a bit like the 2009 Ferrari and just fundamentally a bit shite. I hope that isn't the case, because they'll end up pouring all their resources into a super-fast 2015 car.

Just like McLaren did for this year. And so far it looks to have paid off.

lolie · 01-02-2014 12:38am

Even the Spanish fans are feeling sympathetic towards red bull..........NOT

Zcott · 01-02-2014 12:42am

That's got to be quite embarrassing...

kryptonmight · 01-02-2014 4:59pm

Apparently vibrations in the drivetrain are also a problem.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/25984458

shamwari · 01-02-2014 7:02pm

kryptonmight wrote: »

Apparently vibrations in the drivetrain are also a problem.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/25984458

More here

http://www.f1technical.net/news/19114?sid=b383dd0993f0949a895d54bb9148b1d0

On top of the general Renault issues, RB's own installation and cooling issues may be harder to cure than the Renault-specific ones because they may well be a consequence of RB's aggressive design. The solution may be hard to engineer and take a fair bit of time to do and perfect...

baz_ctr · 22-02-2014 8:36pm

I know it's abit bad but I am hoping they have a year like mclaren did last year, would like to see the championship alot more open ( I know new regs should do that this year anyway) but second half of the championship last year in my opinion just got so boring

Are Red Bull screwed this year or will they pull it out of the bag?

Are Red Bull screwed? 17 votes

Comments