Red Bull launch new RB8 car for 2012
Red Bull have revealed their new car for the forthcoming season, to be driven by world champion Sebastian Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber.
Vettel, a two-time champion, praised the RB8 as “extremely comfortable”.
Red Bull dominated the 2011 season and topped the constructors’ championship with 650 points, 153 points clear of nearest rivals McLaren.
Rival outfit Sauber also unveiled their car on Monday, ahead of the season opener on 18 March.
Red Bull came into last season as reigning drivers’ and constructors’ champions and have now added the extra dimension of improved reliability.
At the car launch in Milton Keynes German Vettel was upbeat about the developments.
“The first time I jumped into the car for the seat fit – checking the position, checking your pedals, see if everything works – I think it was the same for Mark and myself, we felt extremely comfortable.
“Everything went well and we got our comfortable position, fairly quickly. The RB8 was pretty straightforward, so we hope it continues that way.”
The 24-year-old, who has won two successive championships, says his chances of becoming the youngest man to win three successive titles will be difficult in the coming season.
The pictures Red Bull have released do not show a great deal. For a team running at the front, it’s always hard to make a big step forward. Everything looks that little bit tidier, especially around the rear end, and while it has a similar front nose to many other cars, it’s nicely rounded and blended. But the big intrigue is the hole in the nose where the step is in the area of the front suspension. It looks like there is an air duct in there, but where does the air go? It could be for cooling, perhaps of the Kers unit and batteries. That is an area where Red Bull had problems last year. Or it could exit out of the rear for an aerodynamic effect. The issue is that you have to go a long way backwards in the car – to the fuel tank area at the earliest – before the rules let you have a hole big enough to exit that amount of air
“It would be wrong to go into this season and expect 2011 to happen again, as in getting into the lead early and having a very big gap to other competitors. I think it will be very, very tight this year.”
At their car launch at Jerez in southern Spain, Sauber’s trio of drivers, Kamui Kobayashi, Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez revealed they will drive the C31.
The Swiss-based team are still chasing a major sponsor for the forthcoming season, with major parts of the car exterior still blank.
They will also have to start in March without technical director James Key, who resigned on Friday.
Sauber chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn said of Key’s departure: “He joined us during a handover period from a factory team to a private team.
“His contribution was very valuable, but we now have a structure, long term, that is the right one going forward.”
