Category: Red Bull Racing

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Porsche Red Bull Racing WEC

Red Bull is nothing, Porsche is everything

Porsche 956 at 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Porsche has released a highlights video from the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed showcasing its Le Mans heritage. It got us thinking, in Australia, the mainstream media just doesn’t seem to understand what a big deal it is that Mark Webber will be part of the iconic company’s return to LMP1 racing at Le Mans next year.

Of course, Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, we understand that. But Webber’s current employer Red Bull Racing, for all of the amazing thing it has achieved, is a minnow on the motorsport landscape when compared with Porsche.

Porsche is racing.

As the legendary Jacky Ickx, a six-time Le Mans winner himself (four with Porsche), says at the end of the video, “They make the soul of motor racing.”

Mark Webber will never be an F1 world champion, and that’s a shame for all Australian motorsport fans. And yet, by moving to Porsche, he has the chance to join the likes of genuine motor racing legends such as Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx, Hans Stuck and many more. All achieved so much with Porsche.

The best years of Webber’s career could still be ahead of him.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Top Gear

Mark Webber appears on Top Gear 20×06

Mark Webber on Top Gear

Mark Webber appeared on the latest episode of Top Gear (Series 20, Episode 6) on the weekend. He discussed the merits driving upside down, how much he will miss Sebastian Vettel and went second fastest on the Top Gear F1 lap charts, despite making a hash of the hammerhead.

Check out the video after the break, while you can.

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Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

We’re fairly certain is Lewis Hamilton is still over the moon at his first win for Mercedes-Benz, which he achieved at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. But we’re not so sure he’ll check into AUSmotive to relive his victory. So, it’s just as well you’re here to fill Lewis’ shoes.

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Formula 1 Lotus Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Hungarian GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton rated his win in the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix very highly. When interviewed on the podium by Martin Brundle he declared: “I think this is probably one of the most important grand prix wins of my career. To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is just a real privilege.”

Clearly, Lewis was pretty happy with his day’s work, and so he should be. He drove a strong race and deserved the win.

Mark Webber was also pleased with his result, even though, he’d much prefer fighting for higher honours that P4.

“I think we had the right strategy,” Webber said. “We knew there was a lot of pressure on getting a good first lap and I got some clear air, which worked well. The start was okay and the first sector was very good, I was able to put a bit of pressure on Kimi and then we just settled in.

“I don’t think we could have got much more than that result today. The strategy was pretty solid and you have to pace the option tyres until the end.”

Daniel Ricciardo wasn’t quite so pleased with his day and think the mid-30 degree temperatures may not suit the Toro Rosso STR8.

“Right from the start, it was clear we weren’t really quick,” admitted Ricciardo. “I tried to hold position as long as I could but we were way too slow. I tried my best in terms of trying to maintain a good pace and look after the tyres, but today it was not enough to go looking for points. We got a bit more out of the car in qualifying yesterday, but it’s hard to repeat that for seventy laps.

“We struggled at Nürburgring as well, so the heat has got something to do with it. We could not match our competitors today, just lacking speed when we have a heavy fuel load, which is the opposite of what we tended to see with last year’s car.”

The full post-race press conference transcript featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Mercedes AMG]

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Formula 1 Lotus McLaren Red Bull Racing

Lewis Hamilton wins 2013 Hungarian GP

Lewis Hamilton wins 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton said he couldn’t win the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite starting from pole position. But he made a quick start off the line to hold P1 and managed to hang on for a well deserved win—his first for Mercedes AMG.

We were also told that the Hungaroring is notoriously difficult to pass on but we saw some great overtaking moves during this race right through the field.

The closing laps saw a great scrap between Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) for the minor podium positions. Kimi was able to hold Sebastian at bay to finish the race in P2.

Making his second great start in a row Mark Webber (Red Bull) started from P10 and improved to P7 by the end of the first lap. He bagn the race on new medium compound tyres, while all those in front were on used softs. Fresh tyres allowed Mark to stay out much longer on his opening stint and he led the race for several laps before making his first of three tyre stops.

With 10 laps to go, while in second place, Webber pitted for the final time taking on a brand new set of soft tyres. He rejoined the track in P4 some 12 seconds behind the Raikkonen–Vettel scrap but was unable to close enough ground to fight for a podium finish. Still, after his qualifying woes he should be happy with fourth.

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) had a non-descript race and was never really in the hunt, in that context he may be happy with P5 today. However, we’re certain he won’t be happy with Ferrari’s current form.

In P6 was Romain Grosjean (Lotus) who, we think, was a little unlucky to be penalised for a great overtaking move on Jenson Button (McLaren). To complete the move Grosjean had all four wheels off the race track, ever so slightly, and was given a drive through penalty for his sins. He had shown good pace all race and had the package to fight for more.

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) was barely sighted on the television feed all race and dropped from his starting position of eighth down to thirteenth. Crucially, he finished one place behind teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Formula 1 now heads into its mid-season break and will return for the Belgian Grand Prix in the last weekend of August.

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Formula 1 Lotus Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2013 Hungarian GP: Qualifying report

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG) collected his third pole position in succession after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton (1:19.388) was genuinely surprised to have edged out Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull, 1:19.426), who had been the benchmark all weekend.

Romain Grosjean (Lotus, 1:19.595) qualified third and in doing so reminded us that, when switched on, he has the talent to mix it with the best in the sport. If he can rid himself of his brain fades he could forge an enviable F1 career. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG, 1:19.720) will start form P4 alongside Grosjean.

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:19.791) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, 1:19.851) occupy the third row of the grid.

For Australian fans their hopes will be pinned on Daniel Riccardo (Toro Rosso, 1:20.641) who will start from P8, once again making it into Q3 while his teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne, was left behind in Q2 and will line up on P14.

“It was good to get into Q3 again. We seem to make a habit of finding a little bit extra for qualifying,” Ricciardo said after qualifying. “Athough ideally, I’d like to be on the pace right from Friday and chip away at the lap times within the top ten. We made some set-up changes overnight and they seem to have worked, although we had a bit of work to do to get to Q3 today.”

Meanwhile, Mark Webber (Red Bull) did well to get himself into Q3 with a car that had ever present issues, namely a KERS failure and hampered performance from his gearbox. He elected not to go out at all in Q3 and will start from P10 and has the luxury to choose the tyres he wants to start with. Although, that’s not much of a compensation for Mark who was clearly frustrated after hopping out of his car while Q3 was still underway.

“Massively frustrating. We look stupid, it’s embarrassing and it’s a brutal circuit to be out of position on,” Webber said. “We should be challenging for the front row and we’re 10th.”

Expectations for the race are that Mercedes, again, won’t have the pace to challenge for the win, which leaves the likely result another win for Sebastian Vettel. The Hungaoring is notoriously difficult to overtake on and while Webber might have the car able to challenge for a podium it will be a mighty result if he can achieve that.

[Pic: Mercedes AMG]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

“Ricciardo did an excellent job at Silverstone”

Daniel Ricciardo testing for Red Bull Racing, July 2013

Daniel Ricciardo’s hopes of landing the plumb Red Bull Racing seat in 2014 are improving by the day it would seem. And it appears we won’t have long to find out if he’s got the gig.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Dietrich Mateschitz told Autosport, that an announcement isn’t far away. “There is no decision yet, and it is still under discussion within the team. It will be announced after Budapest,” the Red Bull owner said.

“But Ricciardo did an excellent job at Silverstone, and [Jean-Eric] Vergne was very good,” Mateschitz added.

Daniel set the fastest lap of the day during testing at Silverstone last week. That time was set in the morning session when he was driving for Toro Rosso. After switching to the Red Bull Racing garage over his short lunch break he backed up his morning performance with the third quickest time of the day.

Jean-Eric Vergne believes he’s still a chance to land the job at Red Bull, but it would appear as though it’s a straight fight between Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

With Louts on the brink of securing new investors it’s looking more likely that Kimi could elect to stay with his current team for 2014. And that would be a great boost to Daniel’s chances of replacing fellow Australian Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo tops lap times at Silverstone

Daniel Ricciardo testing for Red Bull Racing, July 2013

Day two of testing at Silverstone overnight was very fruitful for the Red Bull family. In the morning session Daniel Ricciardo drove for Toro Rosso and set the quickest time of the day (1:32.972). In the afternoon session he swapped cars, suited up for Red Bull Racing and posted the third fastest time of the day (1:33.187).

We can’t recall another time where a driver has tested two different F1 cars on the same day. Similarly, seeing Daniel’s name on the lap charts twice is a bit of a novelty.

Splitting Daniel’s two times was an impressive F1 debut for Carlos Sainz Jr in the Toro Rosso (1:33.016). The 18-year-old later described it as the “happiest day” of his life. That feeling may only last 24 hours, though, he’ll be driving for Red Bull later tonight.

Ricciardo’s status as a current F1 driver meant he was restricted to tyre testing as prescribed by Pirelli, whereas teams can make more changes to their cars when the nominated young drivers are at the wheel.

Clearly this was a big day for Daniel who hopes to be promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull at the end of the year. According to Christian Horner it’s a fight between Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen for the vacant seat.

Not long after Daniel set his fastest lap in the RB9 he had a minor off, but there was no damage done. Speaking afterwards the 24-year-old Australian said: “I did quite a few laps this afternoon, so I’m happy with that. I had a small off but otherwise it was a trouble-free day.

“It was a good opportunity to get behind the wheel and experience two different beasts today. In terms of the inevitable speculation, I think this test is something for Red Bull to look at, but there’s still the rest of the season with Toro Rosso to do, so I’ll switch my focus back to that and won’t get too caught up in any rumours.”

More importantly perhaps is the reaction from the team. Andy Damerum, RBR Race Engineering Co-ordinator, later said: “Daniel had only about 45 minutes to swap over from his morning tyre test to driving our car, a completely different machine, but he was up to speed very quickly. As ever his feedback was exemplary and he gave us a lot of information to go through.”

[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

It’s Daniel v Kimi in chase for 2014 Red Bull seat

2013 Canadian Grand Prix

It’s official, well, as official as it’s ever going to get: it’s Daniel Ricciardo v Kimi Raikkonen in the chase for Mark Webber’s seat at Red Bull Racing.

Confirmation came from Christian Horner ahead of today’s test session at Silverstone. “We’re very keen to have a look at Daniel as a prospect for next year,” Horner told Sky Sports. “Obviously there is a great deal of interest in the seat, but it’s an opportunity to have a look at Daniel and for him to do some of our tyre-testing work in our RBR car. It’s a great opportunity for him.”

When Horner was asked directly if it was a straight out fight between Daniel and Kimi, he replied: “Essentially, probably.”

Kimi Raikkonen is still the bookies’ favourite to land the gig, but Daniel’s prospects have clearly improved in recent weeks.

“You have to look at what these drivers have at their disposal and for sure both Jean-Eric and Daniel are very quick drivers, and we have an opportunity to take a closer look at Daniel which is why we have chosen to exercise that and get him in the car,” Horner added.

We know that Red Bull has an internal target of 200 points from whoever partners Sebastian Vettel next year and Kimi is clearly capable of reaching that target.

“Kimi’s track record speaks for itself and he’s a championship contender as we speak. We’re in a fortunate position in that not only are we attracting fantastic drivers like Kimi but we’ve also got the opportunity to look at the drivers we have been nurturing in the likes of Daniel,” said Horner.

“We get paid based on where we are in the Constructors’ Championship so therefore we want the fastest and best drivers we can get in the car. We’ll take our time to make sure that whoever fills Mark’s shoes—and they are big shoes to fill—is the right choice for the team.”

[Source: Sky Sports | Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Red Bull wants 200 points from number 2 driver

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo will need to convince Red Bull Racing hierarchy he is capable of delivering the team 200 championship points if he is to secure a drive with them in 2014, Autosport reports.

“Red Bull is not a team that can afford to be swayed by personal preference, a hunch, or a beaming Australian smile,” the Autosport article says. “It is cold-hard statistics that will count for its verdict.”

A total of 200 points would be no small task for the 24-year-old Australian. There is likely to be 20 races on the 2014 F1 race calendar, so on average Red Bull expects whoever replaces Mark Webber to finish fifth or better in every race. As it stands right now Daniel best ever race finish is seventh. With a better car and a better resourced team this should be achievable, although the pressure to perform will be immense.

Red Bull Racing has won three constructors’ championships in a row. In that time Mark Webber delivered 242, 258 and 179 points respectively in the years 2010–2012.

You would think the other reported Red Bull target, Kimi Raikkonen, would be more than able to meet the points criteria for Red Bull. Whether he would be willing to give up the freedom offered by Lotus to meet the promotional demands that go with being a Red Bull driver is another matter altogether.

It won’t be conclusive, of course, but if Daniel can put in a good performance with Red Bull at Silverstone today, on and off the track, that can only help his chances of promotion in 2014.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo, your time is now!

2013 German Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo will drive a Red Bull Racing RB9 tomorrow when Formula 1 hits the test track at Silverstone for the commonly referred to young driver tests.

This has come about due to a change in conditions from the FIA which will allow all teams to test new Pirelli tyres with their F1 drivers. The new tyres will be introduced at the Hungarian Grand Prix (28 July).

The test program runs for three days and for all the morning sessions Red Bull has announced its young drivers will participate. For the afternoon sessions Ricciardo will be first up, with Mark Webber to drive on Thursday and Sebastian Vettel to step in for Friday’s test.

With no opportunity for Jean-Eric Vergne to test with Red Bull at this test it is the clearest sign yet that Ricciardo is the Toro Rosso driver most likely to replace Mark Webber if Red Bull chooses to promote one of their junior drivers.

[Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]

UPDATE 17 July: Red Bull has amended their schedule. António Félix da Costa will drive all day Wednesday and Thursday’s morning session. Daniel Ricciardo will hit the track on Thursday afternoon. Friday’s original schedule remains in place, which means Mark Webber can take the week off.

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Vettel second to Schumacher in race to 30 wins

2013 German Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel’s first victory in Germany was his 30th Formula 1 win overall. As much as we enjoy portraying him as the pantomime villain to Mark Webber’s hero, it’s easy to forget that Vettel’s career achievements to date are quite remarkable.

Of course, the three world championships headline his feats, but he could be on track to chase down the one stat we never thought could be beaten; Michael Schumacher’s 91 wins. That’s a long way off yet, although it’s only taken Vettel one more race than Michael to notch up 30 wins.

Vettel has just turned 26 and if he races into his 40s, as Michael did, there’s the potential to add another 300-plus race starts to his tally. With a current winning percentage of 27% that could mean another 80-odd wins ahead for Vettel.

Well, that’s enough baseless speculation, here’s the list of the six drivers to reach 30 grand prix wins and the number of races it took them:

Race starts taken to reach 30 F1 wins

  1. Michael Schumacher – 109
  2. Sebastian Vettel – 110
  3. Ayrton Senna – 114
  4. Alain Prost – 124
  5. Nigel Mansell – 179
  6. Fernando Alonso – 186

[Source: Motor Sports Talk | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]