Late last week Hyat Infiniti showcased the Red Bull F1 demo car in it’s showroom in Calgary. The show started with free drinks, hors d’oeuvres, live DJ and prize draws every half hour.
Red Bull’s RB6 debuted in February 2010 at Circuito de Jerez, Spain, and finished the season as the 2010 World Champion. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber clinched a one-two-finish, the Red Bull Racing team won the Constructors title and Mr. Vettel was named driver of the year. These are a list of accolades that are all attached to the RB6.
The RB6 was an evolution of the 2009 car with refined characteristics rather than new concepts. As a result, the car looks similar to the RB5 while retaining elements such as the chassis and pull-rod rear suspension. In the back of this RB6 you will find Renault’s V8 engine. One of the development from the outgoing RB5 are the ‘bumps’ on the edges of the nose becoming even taller on the new car. These serve to control the airflow over the nose and were copied by almost every other team.
Formula 1 is very much a team sport even though the focus more often then not falls on the drivers. Operating in the background is the chief designer, who is arguably one of the more important team members. Adrian Newey fills this very important position at Red Bull Racing and has done so since 2006. Having already designed championship winning cars for Williams and McLaren, he helped to gradually lift the young team from the back of the grid to the very front.
There are few things in the automotive world that are both as beautiful and as aggressive as a Formula 1 car. The car is as much art as it is a precise functioning race machine.