- 16 Jan 08, 14:12#29569From autosport.com:
Red Bull launch the RB4 at Jerez
By Jonathan Noble Wednesday, January 16th 2008, 08:41 GMT
David Coulthard and Mark Webber with the new Red Bull-Renault RB4Red Bull Racing unveiled their new Renault-powered RB4 car at Jerez in Spain this morning, as they bid to build on team stability to deliver their most competitive season in Formula One.
The new car, which is the second to have been designed by technical chief Adrian Newey, was rolled out into the Jerez pitlane early this morning. It features the bridge wing that the team used at the end of last season.
Webber said last weekend that he hoped the continuity of driver, engine and technical staff would help the team deliver improved results in 2008.
"The biggest thing for us this year is the continuity," he said. "We have the same engine, we have the same drivers, and we have the same technical staff.
"All the engineers that [teammate] David [Coulthard] and I worked with are the same, so that's going to help us come Sunday afternoon."
Newey: no compromises with RB4
By Jonathan Noble Wednesday, January 16th 2008, 10:32 GMT
David Coulthard tests the Red Bull RB4 at JerezRed Bull Racing insist they have not had to make any compromises to the design of their new RB4 as they bid to overcome the reliability problems that marred their 2007 campaign.
The team unveiled their evolutionary new contender at Jerez in Spain this morning and chief technical officer Adrian Newey claims they have been able to be just as aggressive in chasing speed with the car as they were with its predecessor.
That was because analysis of the issues that overshadowed last year's campaign showed the reliability problems were not related to Newey's design being too focused on speed.
"I don't think the reliability problems came as a result of chasing performance," said Newey. "They came through detailed design, manufacturing and operations faults. And the reliability systems couldn't cope.
"We haven't had to make any compromises in that respect. It is just a matter of understanding why things were failing, and what was breaking down in the system to cause them."
Newey thinks that the reliability problems of 2007 were mostly the result of the team stepping up the standard of their Formula One machinery.
"The RB3 was a completely different car to anything that had come out of Milton Keynes before," he said. "And that, in a small part, contributed also to our reliability and operations difficulties.
"It was a more complicated car than its predecessor and that caused some problems internally, just learning how to operate it.
"This car is very much an evolution of RB3. There are very common parts, but the concept and principle of the car is the same. It is an evolution, so it will make it easier for the team this year as they have learned how to work with it."
In fact, rather than go for a more simple design in 2008 to overcome the reliability issues, technical director Geoff Willis claims the team have actually upped their detail with the RB4.
"The car is actually more complex in its design," explained Willis. "We've done a better job.
"There are a significantly larger number of drawings issued for this car which reflect the fact that we have been looking at all the problem areas and have a proper design solution. So we think we understand the issues.
"We've dealt with those by doing a much more refined design so, although it is quite clearly an evolution, in terms of the detail it is a significant step forward from RB3 to RB4 in terms of how much we are trying to control it - so it is what we want, not what arrives.
"If you are in control of the design and manufacture then you have a much better chance to sort out reliability."
RBR confident of step forward in 2008
By Pablo Elizalde and Matt Beer Wednesday, January 16th 2008, 10:59 GMT
David Coulthard and Mark Webber at the launch of the Red Bull RB4Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is confident that the squad will take a step forward in performance in 2008, but is unwilling to make firm predictions about their competitiveness.
The team took their best constructors' championship result to date in 2007, being classified fifth after McLaren's penalty, and fighting hard for fourth place with Williams.
The latter part of the season saw notable gains by Red Bull, and at the team's 2008 launch at Jerez, Horner said his initial aim was to pick up where they had left off at the end of 2007.
"We were competitive in the final three races of last year and we'll be looking to start from that point with the new car," said Horner.
"Ferrari and McLaren are obviously going to be extremely competitive again and are the benchmark, and then I predict a pretty tight group thereafter, which will hopefully consist of ourselves, BMW, Renault, probably Williams, and who knows with Toyota and Honda.
"It's very difficult to make predictions at this time of year. We're confident we've made good progress with this car. How good? We'll see in Melbourne. But we're happy with the progress that we've seen over the RB3."
He believes that continuity will play a crucial role for Red Bull this season, as the team go into their second year with Renault power and with Adrian Newey as chief technical officer.
"The group is working together much more cohesively with the benefit of continuity with both people and engine suppliers," said Horner.
"This has been the smoothest winter that I've seen at Red Bull and you can start to see the strength of the group coming to the surface now.
"It's not down to two or three people. We've 570 people in Red Bull Racing, which is an average sized team in Formula One. You rely on all of the departments making their contribution to the performance of the car. But I'm confident that we will see a step forward this year."
Newey was also unwilling to make a firm prediction about RBR's 2008 potential.
"I don't want to put a number on it to be honest," he said.
"We can all do our simulations through wind tunnel results and vehicle dynamics and use our simulations, but simulations are exactly that. There can be things in there that are not known or don't behave in the way that has been predicted by the wind tunnel.
"We expect a step forward but I am not willing to put a number on it."
He shared Horner's belief that the team were making progress as their resources increased, but added that this was still an ongoing process.
"It takes time for these things," said Newey. "As a team we are still a very young team, and we still don't have all the infrastructure that all the top teams have because it takes time, you cannot just go down to the shops and buy the simulation departments.
"It takes time and we are still in the process of building up. As long as we are building then things will be moving forward.
"Already we have made steps forwards, in terms of engineering, the departments are working better together.
"Geoff Willis's arrival has made a huge contribution, and Geoff's other big contribution has been in terms of changing things around to help our productivity and our reliability."
Newey has designed a great looking car. In my opinion, the team will definitely progress in terms of speed. If Red Bull improve their inept reliability, they will be a very solid team.
Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008
