Newey doubts Red Bull title win in 2015

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In the round-up: Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey expects 2015 will be a rebuilding year for the team.

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Newey plays down Red Bull's title chances (Reuters)

"If we can manage the odd win, as we did last year, then that would be fantastic. But we can't count on it. I think it's really a season that will be very much about trying to extract the most we can and build on it for the future."

Red Bull's 2015 Formula 1 car passes crash tests in time (Autosport)

"Red Bull is on course to get its new RB11 Formula 1 car out for the first day of pre-season testing at Jerez after successfully passing all its crash tests."

2015 – Back to Work (Mercedes via YouTube)

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Comment of the day

We’re about to find out whether Red Bull can reassert themselves after losing their championships in 2014, or whether Adrian Newey’s change of focus will be the beginning of a downward trend for the team.

Red Bull were touting at the end of 2014 that Newey was still hanging around, however, it seems clear in the video above that Newey isn’t going to have the finger on the pulse of the team this year.

Sure he might be around to help with verbal advice, but, this is going to be a defining year for Red Bull, and I’ll be hoping for Riccardio’s sake, that they can fill the void.

However, the feeling I get is, that there is one Adrian Newey, and Mercedes already have a great pace, Ferrari and McLaren are rebuilding, perhaps not this year, but in 2016, we could well see Red Bull begin their slide back into the mid-field.
@Dragoll

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Keith Collantine
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25 comments on “Newey doubts Red Bull title win in 2015”

  1. Seems that Newey doesn’t share the Renault’s optimism over the engine development. i imagine that it’s more to do with the drivability than horsepower alone. I’ve been surprised how quickly the relationship soured after 4 successive championship doubles. It’s alwa “they” and never “we”, despite the facts that it’s supposed to be a works team like relationship

    1. I think it’s called “Realism”. It’s a long forgotten trend these days. I don’t know if you are already aware of this but RBR never likened Renault. Originally, switching to Renault from Ferrari was a political and strategic move, one wouldn’t imagine Ferrari supplying a wannabe competitor. However from day one Web and Coulthard, complained about the fact the STR had a better engine, and this was slowing the main team down. Renault stepped up in the freeze era but nevertheless every season RBR tried to opt out of their Renault deal, but the new founded Mercedes team brought that effort to earth. Nevertheless RBR complained throughout the “domination”, this is until the “Infiniti deal”. Basically Renault gave the engines and paid for ad space etc, meaning that for the last couple seasons of the “domination” there were less complaints, this is until 2014.
      I’m sure RBR will try to snatch a deal with Honda asap, but Ron’s smart this may never happen, but there’s still hope, VW may be on the way but VW is inexperienced, that was certainly a problem for RBR when they decided to keep Renault for 2014 and 15.

      1. Originally, switching to Renault from Ferrari was a political and strategic move, one wouldn’t imagine Ferrari supplying a wannabe competitor. However from day one Web and Coulthard, complained about the fact the STR had a better engine, and this was slowing the main team down.

        This is completely untrue. Red Bull switched to Renault first and foremost because they felt it was a better engine. It was a move which was demanded by Newey himself as one of the key elements of his rebuilding of the team. Red Bull had Ferrari engines in the first two years, but as soon as Newey came from McLaren to be a new technical director, he started laying foundation for his vision. Obtaining Renault engines was priority of the highest order for him. Ferrari might have been better in some aspects, but Renault was better for what Newey needed.
        The fact that Ferrari’s customer could never really be expected to compete with the main team wasn’t lost on them and it was probably a factor, but even if it wasn’t, they wanted Renault engines.
        Newey demanded a lot of authority and written reassurance that he would be the clear chief of the team for all things technical. Otherwise, he would have stayed at McLaren, because the only thing Red Bull could have offered that McLaren couldn’t, was the freedom and the authority to make everything the way he sees fit. Back in those days, Renault was also better engine than Mercedes. In fact Mercedes engine was the #1 reason Kimi ran out of patience with McLaren.

        All in all, as they say, the rest is history. Newey made his vision come true and results followed. Pretty much in the same way Ross Brawn set up Mercedes team for their current domination.

      2. @peartree In addition to what Biggsy said: the Renault engine needed less cooling than the Ferrari one. Due to this, Newey could compensate the very slight loss in engine power by having a much tighter package in the car which is much more aerodynamically efficient.

  2. ColdFly F1 (@)
    1st February 2015, 0:11

    I like the Mercedes video.
    And they gave us the title for this season’s DVD already: “2015 – the rematch”

    1. That wouldn’t follow the trend of the titles getting worse every year:
      2015 – “Could be Worse”
      2016 – “Meh.”
      2017 – “5 in a row for Marquez”
      2018 – “I think there’s a sale on at Penny’s”

    2. “Winning our home race at Hockenheim” Did that get resolved yet (German GP) ?

      1. I don’t think so @hohum, only yesterday I a saw another interview where BE mentions there might not be a German GP this year, clear sign of negotiations still ongoing (i.e. Bernie wanting a bigger sum)

  3. Nice video by Mercedes, addressing a lot of what the fans have actually been talking about. Seems pretty grounded and realistic.

    Also, someone’s filming day actually produced a film, that WE saw! :D

  4. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    1st February 2015, 0:56

    McLaren without brands on the logistics truck… so maybe the rumours about a new livery (if they seal a deal with a major sponsor) are true.

    1. IIRC Bernie doesn’t allow sponsors names on team property because he sells exclusive track advertising rights.

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        1st February 2015, 4:02

        @hohum – wouldn’t that be just ‘track-side’.

        1. @coldfly, No, I remember Bernie making the point at Monaco and the trucks had to go or be covered up.

  5. Here’s a question. If Max Verstappen finishes on the podium in Silverstone, would the FIA legally be allowed to give him champagne on the podium or would they get a £20,000 fine?

    1. Simple: They will give him the Champagne given out in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain !!!

    2. Silverstone being private property, I believe they could give him it with no legal issues. Or if it counts as a licensed premises, they could give him it with some chips and it’d be OK as long as he was accompanied by an adult.

      1. @neilosjames, if Silverstone is designated as private property, then you are indeed correct – you have to be over 18 to purchase alcohol, but a minor can drink alcohol within private property or at home so long as they are over the age of 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_licensing_laws_of_the_United_Kingdom

    3. If the other driver’s were to spray him with their own champagne, could they be charged with giving alcohol to a minor? It all gets so complicated!

    4. As if there is no champagne in junior series…

    5. The whole of Silverstone will have to be designated as a beer garden. And Max won’t be allowed to go to the bar himself. Failing that, he could just sit outside the gates with his trophy and perhaps a can of Vimto.

  6. This new Mercedes and especially the nose shape reminds me of some old McLarens (pre 2009).

  7. God the Mercedes looks so good.

  8. Is it me or does Nico look incredibly tired (or annoyed) in that video?

  9. I really like that video. I hope they keep giving us things like this throughout testing as well as during the year.

Comments are closed.