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Red Bull ready to stamp dominance
Source: Agencies |
April 15, 2010, Thursday
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RED Bull will look to make the most of its technical advantage at this weekend's Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, with rival teams yet to implement new technology and another weather-affected race looming.
Red Bull romped away to a 1-2 finish at the previous GP earlier this month in Malaysia, finally confirming its status as this season's early benchmark after mechanical failures prevented wins that were otherwise there for the taking in Bahrain and Australia.
Red Bull arrives in Shanghai with memories of another 1-2 finish here last season, and a repeat of that performance this weekend would have rival teams playing catch up.
That catching up must be done in the workshop, as the likes of McLaren and Ferrari seek to match Red Bull's technical edge and cure their own shortcomings.
Since Malaysia, McLaren has been working to develop a suspension ride adjustment system like the one many suspect is fitted to the Red Bull cars, despite denials from the team.
Such a system allows the car's ride to be lowered for the low-fuel qualifying session and raised to accommodate the greater fuel load on race day. How this can be achieved, and has been achieved if the rumors about Red Bull are true, is unclear given that it is illegal to tinker with the cars between qualifying and race. There has been talk of a gas compression that dissipates naturally in the time between qualifying and race, allowing the car to essentially raise itself.
McLaren said this week that it had abandoned efforts to design a new suspension system ahead of China because its understanding of a directive from world governing body FIA is that even a self-raising device would contravene regulations. Where that leaves Red Bull, and whether there will be any official protest remains to be seen.
Ferrari, meanwhile, had been making efforts to copy McLaren's F-duct aerodynamic device, which is manually operated by the driver in the cockpit to adjust airflow and stall the rear wing to allow for greater speed on the straights.
Of more immediate concern for the Italian team is reliability after Fernando Alonso's powerplant engine gave way in a plume of smoke on the penultimate lap in Malaysia.
With only eight engines per car allowed over 19 races before penalties kick in, Ferrari is already into conservation mode. This weekend it will use the engines it took to a 1-2 finish at Bahrain and subsequently changed, suggesting the team is less than confident about the ability of the engines from the last two races.
Should one of the Ferrari engines give way this weekend, there will be questions asked at the team's Maranello headquarters. It was ahead of the Chinese GP last year that Luca Baldisseri was replaced as chief of on-track operations, paying the price for Ferrari's poor start to 2009.
Red Bull romped away to a 1-2 finish at the previous GP earlier this month in Malaysia, finally confirming its status as this season's early benchmark after mechanical failures prevented wins that were otherwise there for the taking in Bahrain and Australia.
Red Bull arrives in Shanghai with memories of another 1-2 finish here last season, and a repeat of that performance this weekend would have rival teams playing catch up.
That catching up must be done in the workshop, as the likes of McLaren and Ferrari seek to match Red Bull's technical edge and cure their own shortcomings.
Since Malaysia, McLaren has been working to develop a suspension ride adjustment system like the one many suspect is fitted to the Red Bull cars, despite denials from the team.
Such a system allows the car's ride to be lowered for the low-fuel qualifying session and raised to accommodate the greater fuel load on race day. How this can be achieved, and has been achieved if the rumors about Red Bull are true, is unclear given that it is illegal to tinker with the cars between qualifying and race. There has been talk of a gas compression that dissipates naturally in the time between qualifying and race, allowing the car to essentially raise itself.
McLaren said this week that it had abandoned efforts to design a new suspension system ahead of China because its understanding of a directive from world governing body FIA is that even a self-raising device would contravene regulations. Where that leaves Red Bull, and whether there will be any official protest remains to be seen.
Ferrari, meanwhile, had been making efforts to copy McLaren's F-duct aerodynamic device, which is manually operated by the driver in the cockpit to adjust airflow and stall the rear wing to allow for greater speed on the straights.
Of more immediate concern for the Italian team is reliability after Fernando Alonso's powerplant engine gave way in a plume of smoke on the penultimate lap in Malaysia.
With only eight engines per car allowed over 19 races before penalties kick in, Ferrari is already into conservation mode. This weekend it will use the engines it took to a 1-2 finish at Bahrain and subsequently changed, suggesting the team is less than confident about the ability of the engines from the last two races.
Should one of the Ferrari engines give way this weekend, there will be questions asked at the team's Maranello headquarters. It was ahead of the Chinese GP last year that Luca Baldisseri was replaced as chief of on-track operations, paying the price for Ferrari's poor start to 2009.
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