Red Bull presents its newborn in its 2016 version
After the unveiling of the 2016 livery in the middle of last week, it took a few more days to see the features of the new car designed by Adrian Newey. Enter the RB12!
The impatience was certainly high this morning within the Red Bull Racing team. Impatience to turn the page on a complicated 2015 season, marked by three meager podiums and especially by a more than strained relationship with Renault. It must be said that the Austrian team was no longer used to being deprived of success: it had experienced six winning seasons since 2009.
The team is therefore going at it full throttle with this new single-seater, the twelfth since the takeover of the Jaguar team at the end of 2004.
Install lap for @DanielRicciardo and the #RB12 complete. 2016 is underway! 🙌 #F1isback #F1 pic.twitter.com/1OnHAGf2U8
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 22, 2016
Confiding about the new car, the team’s director, Christian Horner, recalled the specific context of the RB12’s production: “Obviously, the late decision on our engine choice was a challenge, but we found a solution in time, and the team as a whole did tremendous work this winter. In this sense, we are in the process of finding ideas to continue our strong second half of the 2015 season.”
As a reminder, the Austrian team only officially announced their new engine at the beginning of December. After months of discussions, the Red Bull-Renault partnership remains in place, this time in the form of a rebadged engine under the name Tag-Heuer, as part of a sponsorship agreement between the team and the Swiss watch brand.
Christian Horner especially hopes that his team will raise its level compared to last year. Besides the inevitable development of the car, he also reiterated his main focus: I also hope above all that we will develop our power unit in order to get closer to our closest rivals.
When asked about his new protégé, Adrian Newey admitted, for once, that he is constrained by the current aerodynamic limitations: “I’ve often wondered which part of this car I liked the most but with this stable and little evolving regulation, it’s very difficult to find any aerodynamic part to exploit. Despite this, we have tried to design a coherent car between its suspensions, chassis design, and aerodynamics. I think we’ve learned lessons from the previous year. The indications we’ve gathered in the simulator suggest to me that this year’s chassis is well-born.”
Now there is nothing left but to wait for the first laps in Barcelona to see if the four-time world champion team will be able to return to its glorious past level.
Let’s hope, in any case, that this new model doesn’t take away the legendary smile from Daniel Ricciardo’s face!
So how does it feel to be back on track @danielricciardo? 😁👍 #F1isback #F1 pic.twitter.com/5VOvD6PT14
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) February 22, 2016
