F1

Will Red Bull be out in front next year?

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 28 total)
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  • #133829
    Lucas Wilson
    Participant

    Simple question, will Red bull still be leading the way in the new era in 2014?

    #244150
    Loup Garou
    Participant

    IMO, they will take their time to settle down with the new regulations but WILL catch-up and pass the competition in the second part of the season for the WDC but not necessarily for the WCC. For one thing, Renault turbo engines will not be as far behind as Mercedes as some think (or hope). Add Newey’s designing genius and Vettel’s brilliant driving and the final package should be good enough to compensate any horsepower deficiency and overcome the opposition. Also, don’t forget that the weight and (particularly) fuel restrictions will affect Mercedes and Ferrari more than they do Renault.

    Of course, I do not expect Vettel / Red Bull to be as dominant in 2014 as they are this year. My feeling is that Vettel will win around 7 races on his way to the 5th WDC. Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Rosberg will win races too but fewer. I expect Grosjean and The Hulk to win their maiden races next season.

    WCC will be more difficult because I don’t think Ricciardo is as good a driver as Webber and so his contribution will be much less. Ferrari with their Raikkonen / Alonso combo or Mercedes with Hamilton & Rosberg might just notch-up enough wins and points to steal the WCC from Red Bull.

    #244151
    Lucas Wilson
    Participant

    I can of expect something along the lines of that. I hope Mercedes (or McLaren in 2015) could give them a challenge. But I don’t think they will suddenly become rubbish, I certainly expect them to be up there next year. It will be interesting Riccardo can do next year.

    #244152
    Diceman
    Participant

    Mercedes will probably have the fastest car, but their engines will blow up every other race à la 2005. So yeah, I do expect both Vettel and Red Bull to be in the front and win both titles. I guess Ferrari will have another “our year” and finish second again :-)

    #244153
    Lucas Wilson
    Participant

    Mercedes fustrates me, they have all the things needed for a world championship title, but they mess it up with silly little mistakes.

    #244154
    mnmracer
    Participant

    yes/no/maybe

    #244155
    MazdaChris
    Participant

    I’d imagine the pecking order will be mixed up a little, but ultimately Red Bull have been SO strong this year that they could afford to ease off and give more attention to next year’s car than some of their rivals. Lotus, Ferrari, and Mercedes are all fighting hard over second in the WCC while RBR can now stop development on this current car completely and focus solely on next year’s car, even using this current one as a bit of a development platform in testing for the rest of the season. The championship winning team may, historically, suffer a dip in form following a winning season, but that usually is because the fight goes down to the last race. With RBR that’s not the case. In fact, I could see them being even more dominant next year than they are currently, as their rivals are going to be fighting down to the last race.

    The wildcard would be McLaren, since they’ve pretty much written this season off as well. They don’t have the strongest driver lineup, but they have plenty of technical resource, and time on their sides.

    But of course this is assuming that all three engine manufacturers manage to come up with fairly even engines. If one manufacturer ends up ahead of the other two, then the situation could be changed completely.

    #244156
    Deej92
    Participant

    I can see them being similar to 2009. Someone (maybe team Brackley again) will be ahead to start with, while Red Bull have the 2nd/3rd fastest car, but they can definitely catch up with their history of successful development through a season. It may take Ricciardo a few races to get up to speed, but having said that, it’s new for everyone.

    #244157
    matt90
    Participant

    I’m hoping that the current use of the exhaust suits Vettel so well that the lack of it next year might level the playing field somewhat, regardless of whether the Red Bull is the best car.

    #244158
    MazdaChris
    Participant

    If you just think about it logically, when you’re starting with a blank sheet of paper and a new set of rules, the team which should be at the front is the team which has the best design process, the best windtunnel/CFD facilities, the best financial backing and technical partnerships, and of course, the best teamworking processes and the best driver. Red Bull has, frankly, all of these bases covered. There isn’t really any logical reason why they wouldn’t come up with the solution which is best out of the box, and their ability to refine and develop the car over a season is beyond that of any other team. They must be considered overwhelming favourites, and the fact they’re nailed both championships with races to spare only adds to that.

    #244159
    Loup Garou
    Participant

    matt90 said
    I’m hoping that the current use of the exhaust suits Vettel so well that the lack of it next year might level the playing field somewhat, regardless of whether the Red Bull is the best car.

    It won’t work that way I’m afraid; quite the contrary, in fact. Red Bull will not have the best overall car to start with but Vettel will make-up for it with his adaptability and driving until such time when the team have sorted the glitches out. In fact, that is what happened this year. RBR were struggling to adapt to the new tyres but Vettel made sure that they were up there with 3 wins plus enough other points to ensure that both the team and he were leading the table before the tyres were revised . Of course, after the revision we all know what happened.

    #244160
    MuzzleFlash
    Participant

    Why does it seem to be general consensus that the Renault engine will be down on power? Aren’t turbos supposed to be Renaults sort of brand history, at least before safety? Like boxers with Subaru, VVT with Honda and exploding with MG?

    #244161
    Mads
    Participant

    @muzzleflash
    While I am not entirely sure, I think it all started because Mercedes asked for Pirelli to make wider rear tyres. Some interpreted it like, it was because they made a lot more power then the others. Speculations started, someone pulled a figure of 100hp more then anyone else out his sleeve, and that has been going on for months now.
    I think the only safe conclusion we can draw is that we have no idea what is going on with the engines.

    #244162
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    As Renault introduced 1.5L turbos to F1, and Ferrari were also successful in this era, surely the onus should be on Mercedes to prove they can do a racing turbo engine well, as opposed to a V10 or V8; But it’s true that so far speculation has Mercedes ahead on power.

    I wonder if the cars will look as ‘runty’ as the new 2009 cars – watching the 2009 Abu Dhabi GP on Sky they looked so much like racing go-karts! This was before the refuelling ban though. But there were still some dodgy angles and curved noses. Designs looked much more refined with the longer 2010 car, but look positively attractive by 2013, even with some bumpy noses. What’s coming back next year? Oh yeah, curved noses.. a la mid 2000’s McLaren! Montoya: “Oh deer!”

    Considering RB spend the most money on the grid each year budget wise, I’d have to say it’d be a surprise if they weren’t at the head of the grid come 2014. But some other winners will be refreshing, given the RB-fest that late 2013 on the old tyres has become.

    #244163
    Kingshark
    Participant

    McLaren won every one of the 8 championships from 1988 – 1991, so why did they not dominate again in 1992? They won everything in four of the previous seasons, so why did this not translate into success in the next few years?

    Ferrari won all 10 of the championships from 2000-2004, so why did they not dominate the 2005 championship? They won all 5 previous seasons, so you would think that they have the next few years in the bag, right? What happened to all their momentum?

    Teams rise and teams fall, simply because Red Bull have enjoyed success in the lawnmower V8 engine era, does not by any means guarantee them success in the V6 Turbo era.

    I believe that 2014 will be a start to a new era, it will be the season where Red Bull’s control of the sport comes to an end, Mercedes rise to the top, and take over Red Bull’s spot to become the most powerful and dominant team in Formula 1.

    Just my two cents.

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