On Monday, the FIA rejected Red Bull Racing’s appeal regarding the fuel flow of Daniel Ricciardo’s car in the Australian Grand Prix last month. Chief aerodynamicist Adrian Newey suggested that running the car illegally as they did was worth up to 4 tenths of a second per lap, an eternity in Formula One terms. Despite this, the mood seems good at Milton Keynes.
One could argue that Red Bull were lucky to get away with just the disqualification of Car 3, Daniel Ricciardo. Mercedes wanted further punishment, like they received in 2005 (when they were B.A.R.) for deliberately running below the weight limit. B.A.R. received a two race ban for committing the offence. However, I feel that the FIA got this one spot on. They could have punished Mercedes much more last year for taking part in a secret tyre test, but all they received was a ban from the Young Driver Test (which punished Sam Bird more than the team really). Red Bull should learn from this though, and should run within the regulations in future.
Renault are slowly getting to grips with how to make the powertrain do what it supposed to do, and closing the 80 brake-horsepower deficit it has to the Mercedes unit. The chassis itself it perhaps on par with that of the Mercedes works team, as the apex speeds through high-speed corners are very similar. Should Mercedes find themselves in trouble in China, Red Bull can pounce, and produce their first win of the season, which would be fantastic for them heading into the break before the European season.
China, however, has not been a happy hunting ground for Red Bull. Despite taking their first win and first 1-2 finish there back in 2009, it has been their only triumph at the Shanghai International Circuit, a circuit where only Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have won more than once.
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER) – 6th
Form: 1/1/R/3/6 (includes races from 2013)
After a strong performance in Malaysia, Vettel struggled all weekend with drivability of the Red Bull in Bahrain, he wasn’t aided by a rare mistake in P3, damaging parts of the floor of his car. Vettel has one win here, in the torrential rain in 2009. He will need similar conditions to challenge for a win here; otherwise, he may be fighting for third. Last year Vettel finished in 4th after opting to try an alternate strategy following a braking issue in qualifying.
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) – 10th
Form: 11/10/D/R/4 (includes races from 2013)
Had Ricciardo got his second place from Australia back, he would be third in the world championship. However he is just 10th after three races. He comprehensively beat his 4-times world champion teammate in Bahrain, and will be hoping for a similar result in China, where he qualified and finished 7th last year in the Toro Rosso, which was a very fine drive indeed.
The Shanghai International Circuit features a lot of medium speed corners, which suit the RB10, but it also has one of the longest straights of any circuit in the world, which does not suit the RB10. However, it shares a lot of characteristics with the Sepang International Circuit, where Red Bull ran 3 and 4 for much of the race. Currently, they are just 9 points off of Force India in 2nd place in the constructor’s world championship, but are already a staggering 76 points behind Mercedes.
Should Red Bull manage to hold off the other Mercedes powered cars yet again it would be quite an achievement. Mark Webber suggested that they will be winning races by Monaco. I think he could well be right.
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