Different to its Jaguar-derived predecessors, Newey's first RBR creation bears several hallmarks of his time at
McLaren, but has yet to display the same sort of potential on track, with mechanical gremlins thwarting testing - despite
David Coulthard topping the times on one day in Spain - amid reports that neither driver, and Webber especially, could get comfortable in the cockpit. Like
Toyota, the team added extra days to its Melbourne preparation.
“Testing has not been trouble-free and a few elements still need fixing, but we have made some progress," team boss Christian Horner admitted after the Bahrain group session.
Red Bull's biggest filip of the off-season came with confirmation that the RB3 would be Renault-powered this season, the Milton Keynes team taking on effectively the same powerplants that took
Fernando Alonso to his second world title.
“Competitive customer engine supply is part of Renault’s racing heritage, and we have tried to approach our new relationship with Red Bull Racing in the best possible
conditions, establishing clear, honest operating principles from the outset,"
Renault's Denis Chevrier commented, "Priority number one was to ensure that the works team suffered no drop off in the quality of trackside support, but number two was to establish a strong trackside team with Red Bull Racing, building for the long term. Our teams have had to learn how to work together, in order to build up performance levels ahead of the season. What’s more, our engine supply agreement has meant we completed more miles with the RS27 engine this winter, allowing us to learn more about its on-track behaviour than would otherwise have been possible. That additional knowledge will be beneficial for both Renault and Red Bull Racing.”
Williams – Nico Rosberg (#16), Alex Wurz (#17):
Falls from grace don't come much harder than that suffered by Williams over the past couple of years, but the
F1 stalwart is already showing signs of picking itself up, dusting itself off and starting all over again.
