Whatshot
Formula One Frenzy Begins
Formula One Frenzy Begins
In front of an audience of team members, partners, guests and international media, drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber drew back the sheet to reveal the RB9, the final instalment in a generation of designs that have bought Infiniti Red Bull Racing 34 grand prix victories and six World Championships.
Despite the largely unchanged nature of the technical regulations for 2013, Adrian Newey explained that the off-season was far from relaxed."It's a tribute to all the hard work of the guys over the winter because we had a very tight championship battle last year," he said. "It was difficult trying to continue development of last year's car while also doing research into the RB9. Obviously it worked for us, but it gave us a very tight timeframe to design and manufacture this car.
"RB9 is an evolutionary car," he added. "Probably the most significant change is not the regulations, but the new Pirelli tyres. We had a quick test with those in practice ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix but in truth we didn't learn a lot because of the conditions. Pirelli have supplied us data about how the new tyres behave but past experience tells us that it's only when we go testing that we really find out."
The continuity in Infiniti Red Bull Racing's driver line-up for 2013 is much more straightforward. Sebastian is beginning his fifth year with the team, while this will be Mark's seventh straight season with Infiniti Red Bull Racing, the longest-established team- driver combination on the 2013 grid.