5 Things Red Bull Must Do to Return to the Top of F1 in 2015
Since winning the final three races of the 2009 Formula One season, Red Bull have been on a roll. But their streak of four straight Drivers' and Constructors' Championships looks set to end this season, done in by a Renault power unit that cannot match the one produced by Mercedes.
Still, the season has not been a total disaster for the team from Milton Keynes. They have discovered a new star in Daniel Ricciardo, the only man not driving a Mercedes to win this year—and he has done it thrice! And although they might not win any titles, Red Bull are a near lock to finish second in the Constructors' standings.
That is not to whitewash the issues that do exist. Four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel has looked uncomfortable in his car all year and has been thoroughly bested by the Aussie newcomer Ricciardo (not to be confused with Mark Webber, the Aussie Vettel systematically thrashed over the previous few seasons).
Also, chief technical officer (and aerodynamic genius) Adrian Newey announced in June that he would be stepping back from his role with the F1 team.
All that said, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz is not spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year to finish second. But what do they need to do to pull themselves out of their (relative) slump? Here are the five things that should be at the top of their to-do list.
Get More Power from Their Renault Engine
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As usual, Newey has designed a brilliant chassis for Red Bull, but it is being held back by the lack of power and reliability from the team's Renault engines.
It is not news that Mercedes has produced (by far) the best power unit for 2014. And with the freeze on in-season engine development, neither of their rival engine builders—Renault and Ferrari—have been able to catch up.
In order to return regularly to the front of the grid next season, Red Bull need to ensure that Renault's 2015 power unit is a match for the Merc (as well as Ferrari and newcomer Honda). And the team is not standing around waiting for Renault to get their act together.
Last week, Autosport's Jonathan Noble reported that Red Bull is providing increased support to their engine partner. In the same piece, Renault Sport F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul said that next year:
"We will have a works team. We'll have to work and integrate properly with the works team, and the rest will have to follow. I'm sorry but that's the facts of life.
We are trying to do it in the way that is doable for teams like Toro Rosso and Caterham but our focus and target is to go back to a winning championship position with Red Bull Racing. Full stop.
"
That focus is exactly what Red Bull need. Trying to provide equal support to four different teams is not a winning formula.
Replace Adrian Newey
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OK, so you can't just "replace" Newey and his 10 Constructors' Championships with three different teams. There are simply no other designers with his resume in F1.
For Red Bull, the only positive bit from the news that Newey is leaving F1 is that he is not going to design for another team (especially after Ferrari apparently took a run at signing him earlier this season).
For now, Newey is still working on the design of Red Bull's 2015 car, meaning the team should at least start next season with the best chassis. At the Friday FIA press conference before the Belgian Grand Prix, he said, "At the moment I'm still full time at Red Bull Racing and will be certainly over the coming months as we finalise the general layout of the car."
But once Newey is not working hands-on, day-to-day on the car, the design and development of it will certainly suffer. Someone is going to need to fill that void, although it is not yet clear who that will be. The team has started to shuffle their talent around, though, announcing the promotion of Vettel's race engineer Guillaume "Rocky" Rocquelin to Head of Race Engineering for next season.
Fix Reliability Issues
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Red Bull have only suffered four DNFs so far this season—the same number as Mercedes. However, with new regulations dictating the number of engines (and various other parts of the power unit) that can be used during the season, Red Bull are in trouble.
It has been obvious since the first days of preseason testing that Renault's reliability this year would be questionable. In Italy last weekend, Daniil Kvyat became the first driver to incur a grid penalty this season for exceeding the engine limits. Unsurprisingly, his Toro Rosso—Red Bull's sister team—also uses Renault engines.
Vettel has already used his full allotment of five engines and conceded to Sky Sports' Mike Wise in Belgium that a grid penalty is inevitable in the future. "The question is how many we'll need," Vettel said.
So along with generating more power, Renault will also need to improve their reliability for next season. It may not matter this year, but if Red Bull were to be in a close fight for the title next season they could not afford grid penalties for using extra power unit components.
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Secure a Top Driver Pairing
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The driver rumour market is in full gear right now. Well-connected journalist Joe Saward recently proposed a scenario on his blog that would see Fernando Alonso move from Ferrari to McLaren and Vettel take the Spaniard's place at Ferrari.
Vettel has been comprehensively beaten by Ricciardo this year, and he might be looking for a new challenge anyway.
If that is the case, Red Bull will need to find a replacement and, in case you haven't noticed, there aren't many four-time world champions available for hire right now.
Saward mentions Kvyat as a possible candidate to fill Vettel's shoes, and he has had an impressive first year at Toro Rosso. But maybe Red Bull would want someone more experienced? Nico Hulkenberg is long overdue for a move up the grid, although he does not have any ties to Red Bull.
Or maybe Vettel will stay at Red Bull, who have supported him for his entire career. If that happens, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has one more problem to solve...
Pick a No. 1 Driver
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No matter which two drivers fill Red Bull's line-up next season, the team needs to pick a clear No. 1. Look no further than Mercedes this year for what happens when you have two drivers competing on equal terms for a title (Mercedes' car is so much better than everyone else's that they can just let their drivers fight it out and still be assured of winning both titles).
If Vettel does leave, Ricciardo would be the obvious choice as team leader, particularly if he is partnered with a younger driver like Kvyat.
If Vettel stays, though, the team will have a tough decision. Yes, Vettel is a four-time champion, but Ricciardo has outdriven him this year.
Red Bull could let them race equally at the start of the season and see what happens, but they will want to avoid a situation like McLaren faced in 2007, when Lewis Hamilton and Alonso took points from each other through the year and allowed Kimi Raikkonen to steal the Drivers' title by one point.
Of course, all of that is assuming Red Bull are even in contention for the championship next season. As we have seen this year, that is no sure thing.
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