2014 Red Bull RB10

OUR TENTH SEASON STARTS HERE: THE RB10 REVEALED

JEREZ, Spain – Today we revealed the RB10, our challenger for the 2014 Formula One World Championship and our first interpretation of F1's radical new technical regulations.
Únveiled in the pit lane this morning at the Jerez Circuit ahead of the first day of testing, the RB10 is powered by the Renault Energy F1-2014.




We've loved the last nine seasons; our tenth starts here.

Adrian Newey: Ready for a New Era
Regulation changes, design changes and in particular the big discussion revolving around the new car noses in Formula One for 2014: We hear from Adrian ahead of the big pre-season roll out in Jerez.

Q1: What are the two key regulation changes for this season?

Newey: This season we have two big regulation changes, the first one concerning the engine. We've gone from the normally aspirated 18000 rpm V8 to a turbo charged 1.6-liter V6 with much higher electrical content – KERS in layman's terms – and very strict fuel consumption. So, we not only have a limit of 100kgs of fuel for the race but we have a maximum flow rate. For reference, the previous engines were using 160kg, so it's a big reduction in fuel. (concept carz)



The next major change is with the aerodynamics. What sounds like quite a small change, a 75mm reduction in the width of the front wing on each side, has had a big aerodynamic effect. Previously, the front wing end plate allowed us to put the flow off the tip of the wing outside of the front wheel, but now the front wing end is right in front of the wheel – about the worst possible place. It's not inside or outside, so that means the majority of the flow now stagnates in front of the front wheel. A little bit finds its way outside and the rest comes inside, and in doing so makes quite a mess. The front wheel wake becomes much bigger and that causes all sorts of problems downstream as you approach the side pod and diffuser.

On top of that you have a lowered nose lowered to 185mm from 550mm. What you end up is with almost two noses – one that is the main bulk of the nose to the minimum side view height and then almost a bulb sticking out from that. I think there will be a few ungainly noses, which is a shame. To me the aesthetics of an F1 car are important: They should look good and not many owners of these noses could really love them.

Q2: How big a challenge has it been to get the RB10 ready in time?

Newey: While it appeared that last season was easy for us in terms of the number of wins and points we had at the end of the year, at the critical area around August it was a very tight battle. Mercedes seemed to have good impetus. Ferrari and Fernando had had a very good start to the season and couldn't be ignored, so we were feeling far from comfortable.

We put a lot into the development of RB9 through June, July and September and inevitably that meant compromises. We only have limited recourses and while we were developing RB9 it meant that work wasn't going into RB10. However, we felt we needed to do that to try to win the championship and then handle the pressure of timescales that resulted from that.

I think time really has been our biggest battle. We haven't had the time we would have liked to do the research on the background before committing to the fundamental hardware of monocoque and gearbox case.

Q3: Christian recently raised concerns about reliability across the grid in the opening races? How long do you think it will take for the racing to settle down?

Newey: The early races could see quite a few upsets in the order. Reliability is naturally the most obvious concern. The power unit is tremendously complicated and while road car manufacturers make some quite complicated hybrid cars, those cars have had the luxury of years of development before they come to market. We've got three tests, around 12 days, and then we're off to the first race. It's a very compressed development schedule and that can bring a lot of problems, so reliability will be an issue.

Equally, everyone will be finding their feet in terms of how to use the engines and how to cope with the fuel limits and the aero changes and how to make those work with the tires. We have harder tires this year to cope with the extra torque of the engines. All those things could make for quite an unpredictable melting pot in the first few races.

Q4: You have a multiple champion on one side of the garage and a much less experienced guy on the other. The team obviously rates Daniel very highly. How would you describe Daniel's abilities as he embarks on his first season with the team?

Newey: I think Daniel, through the junior formulae and at STR, has shown a good pace. He's a naturally fast driver. Obviously now it's a matter of the team and driver getting to know each other and working together, seeing how his feedback is. Hopefully it will complement Seb's, as Mark did in the previous seasons. It's a slight journey into the unknown as, although he's been a member of the Red Bull family for seven years, he's been in a different team, so we don't know him that well. Hopefully it will be good and I'm looking forward to it.

Q5: Have you enjoyed designing the RB10?

Newey: Yes I have, though it's been a lot of pressure. It's been a lot of long hours for everyone at the factory. It was a very compressed design schedule as we chose to continue to develop the RB9. That really put pressure on for all of us to hit the deadlines. But pressure can be a good thing; it can be stimulating. It doesn't always seem so when you're leaving the factory at some unsocial hour in the evening then gulping down supper and going to bed, but sometimes creativity comes out of those high pressure environments. It's certainly been busy and now it's that time of trepidation where we wait to see if there are nasty shocks and to see what everyone else been up to over the winter.

About Infiniti
Infiniti Motor Company Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with sales operations in approximately 50 countries. The Infiniti brand was launched in 1989. Its range of premium automobiles is currently built in manufacturing facilities in Japan and the Únited States. Production in China and Europe will start soon along with the expansion of the brand's portfolio.

As the Title Partner and Vehicle Performance Partner of Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Infiniti has a far-reaching technical collaboration with the Formula One team, and Sebastian Vettel, its four-time World Champion driver, serves as Infiniti's Director of Performance.

More information about Infiniti, its Total Ownership Experience® and its industry leading technologies can be found at www.infiniti.com. For the latest news on Infiniti, visit InfinitiNews.com, 'like' Infiniti on Facebook or follow the brand on Twitter @InfinitiÚSA. For interesting content on Infiniti in Formula One visit: www.infiniti-gp.com, www.youtube.com/InfinitiGP or follow on Twitter @InfinitiGP.

About Infiniti in Formula One
Infiniti, the premium automotive brand, starts the 2013 season as Title Partner and Vehicle Performance Partner of Infiniti Red Bull Racing. With a deepened technical collaboration across people, process and technologies, an 'open door' approach is enabling both sides to access a pool of innovation, new technologies and R&D resources in the shared pursuit of precision and performance.

Since the partnership's inception in 2011 it has already seen the launch of the Infiniti FX Vettel Edition and product development input from Sebastian Vettel and test driver Sebastien Buemi for the all-new Infiniti Q50 premium sports saloon. Infiniti continues to be the most visible automotive brand in Formula One, and the deepened partnership will ensure closer alignment on an increasing number of future team collaborations.

For interesting content on Infiniti in Formula One visit: www.infiniti-gp.com, www.youtube.com/InfinitiGP or follow on Twitter @InfinitiGP.

Source - Red Bull