Seb's new car is called 'Randy Mandy'!

Hello!

It's official: My new car is called "Randy Mandy". This is the brand new name we have given her this morning. "Randy Mandy" has fallen to us all at once - a real role model for good, however there is not;)

Here in Istanbul the route is up and down and also it is driven clockwise. It is certainly one of the difficult routes, we've got our hands full ..

The new F-duct system is certainly an advantage, we think that it may take two to four tenths per lap. Whether it works, we can confirm only after the next day.

They have asked me today who will be world champions: Of course Germany! Michael Ballack is well known, although he is injured, but he will give the team moral support. And if we survive the group stage, we can come quite far.

See you soon,
yours Sebastian

Source: sebastianvettel.de

Rivals conspire to uncover Red Bull secrets - report

Red Bull's three title rivals are conspiring against the team with a common goal -- to rein in the dominance of the RB6 car.

According to Germany's Bild-Zeitung tabloid, the dramatic solution was devised after Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber scored every pole position in 2010 so far, and then pulled even further ahead with developments debuted in Barcelona last weekend.

Bild said the "secret pact" between McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes involves the "exchange of data" about the technical superiority of the latest car designed by Adrian Newey.

Ross Brawn is quoted as saying: "In some areas Red Bull have gone in different directions. Our people are looking at it closely."

And Ferrari's Stefano Domenical is quoted by L'Equipe: "Red Bull has taken a big step forward in performance (in Spain). We saw it Friday and Saturday and with Mark's performance on Sunday.

"This is a reference for us. We are not overstating it but we have to look more carefully at it and understand," he added.

It was earlier wrongly believed that the RB6 was hiding some sort of variable ride-height system, but Bild reveals that one of the actual reasons for the car's competitiveness is the exhausts.

We reported during the February tests that Red Bull had put stickers on the car to make it look like the exhausts were located conventionally, when in fact they were located much lower.

Bild said the lower exhausts, hidden from view by six mechanics on the Barcelona grid, contribute to the car's superior aerodynamics.

It is also reported that Red Bull could begin using a McLaren and Ferrari-like F-duct system at Istanbul in two weeks.

Gerhard Berger told APA: "They are clearly the championship favourites. Even without the air-duct, Red Bull are the fastest."

Source: F1 Complete

Sebastian Vettel exclusive: Luscious Liz must prove herself

He is being hotly tipped for the 2010 title and many men his age might cave under the pressure. Not so Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who has arrived in Bahrain looking cool and relaxed. This season there are four champions on the grid. For next season the German wants to make sure he is the fifth. His hopes rest with Luscious Liz, aka the Red Bull RB6, as he explained to Formula1.com…

Q: Sebastian, you are heading into your third season and the saying goes ‘third time lucky’. Do you believe in proverbs?
Sebastian Vettel: If it turns out to be a positive season then I believe in it. If not, then it’s BS! It’s a long way to go, a lot of things have changed and so the racing will change. But we don’t know yet how much, so everything will look different to last year. Nineteen races seems an endless marathon, so we will see.

Q: Compared to 2009 with Brawn as the only real challenger, this year’s race to the title looks set to be more crowded. The fact is you want to win, the team wants to win - but does the car know that?
SV: Well, I’ve given it a name - Luscious Liz - so I will tell her. But yes, it’s true: it looks very close and we have to see who makes the most of the completely different conditions that we will be faced with at the first four races. Here we will have around 35 degrees air temperature and 50 degrees track temperature and we tested at conditions not even half as warm. The indication that we’ve got from testing is not bad, but there are three other teams out there that will heavily challenge us. It all looks very exciting, especially for the fans at the track and at home in front of the telly - and on Saturday we all will be a little wiser about the pecking order. I see four teams at the top - that makes eight eligible drivers for the title - but I don’t think that three races before Abu Dhabi we still will see all eight drivers interlocked in the fight for the crown. Instead over the course of the season we will see who is top and who is not.

Q: You have a tradition of giving your cars female names. Do females tend to do what you want?
SV: Well, I don’t have a magic hand or magic stick or anything of that kind but the experience of the past has shown that it somehow worked out for me. And to be honest, I would find it rather strange to give the car a male name, or to see the car as something masculine.

Q: When did the name ‘Luscious Liz’ for this year’s car pop into your mind?
SV: At the first test I really started to go through a couple of names and I like the name Liz and Luscious Liz fits quite well, I think. It’s an attractive car, it’s quick and successful. But the main attribute naturally should be that she’s bl**dy quick.

Q: So is Liz so much better than Kate (the RB5) was last year?
SV: We will see. Kate and ‘Kate’s dirty little sister’ did a very good job so Liz has to prove herself.

Q: What kind of taste did finishing as 2009 runner-up leave in your mouth?
SV: A bitter taste. The worst moment was the race in Brazil. It was a good race - considering where we started and where we ended up - but what it meant was not very sweet. Anyway, we had to swallow it and did a great job in Abu Dhabi two weeks later. Second place is surely not what I want to achieve. Sure there is only one place better than second, but that is exactly where I want to be at the end of this year. Of course I cannot promise anything, but be sure that I will work my socks off to get there.

Q: Your team principal Christian Horner said that you are a complete driver and that you have all the makings of a champion. Does that sooth the soul, especially given the missed chances last year?
SV: It’s good to hear - but on the other hand it doesn’t make me quicker. It is good to know that the team - Christian and the engineers - are behind me. That is key. But nevertheless you have to fight hard and try to improve yourself and be open for criticism.

Q: How much time and effort did you put into analyzing last season?
SV: Some things happened during the season, and we knew exactly what it was so you don’t need much time to analyze. But of course we sat down and went through race by race and tried to identify the things that had an impact. We have been studying a lot last year and we understood a couple of things. It’s no secret that if we hadn’t had five retirements then the final counting would have been completely different. I was missing 11 points, so the chance to score 12 points in five races wasn’t an impossible thing.

Q: Did all the analysis conclude you should have won the title last year?
SV: Well, everything happens for a reason, and obviously we didn’t win for a reason. Brawn started the season with a dominating car - from seven races Jenson (Button) won six - so the championship was kind of decided already back then and when we had the chance to score more points than Jenson we sometimes didn’t grab it, for various reasons. Now you can start to say that if we had been better here or there we would have… but that is crying over spilled milk and that’s not our philosophy.

Q: You went through a steep learning process last year. What was it in particular that you learned?
SV: We never mucked-up a race - we always got the maximum out of it but in the end it wasn’t enough and it was up to us to understand. Surely we were lacking consistency - either from mistakes from my side or the team’s side - but it is not about blaming anybody, it’s about finding out and fixing it. For the first time we were in a situation to fight for the title and sometimes mistakes creep in. We had some issues with the engine - and this can happen - but if you want to win the title it should not happen to you. You can go next door and ask Michael (Schumacher) what happened to him in 2006. He was leading in Japan - two races to go - and he had an engine blow-up which potentially cost him the championship. So it’s not always the fastest who wins the championship but it is the package: cleverness, a good strong car, reliability and sometimes - when you have no chance to win - bringing the car home in fourth or fifth and collecting the points. You are not proud of being second - that’s nothing to be proud of. When I am around 50 or 60-years-old and not racing anymore probably I might look back thinking that it was a good season - you’ve collected quite an amount of points and won some races - but all matters in the end are championship wins. So far I have zero championships, and we are here to change that.

Q: You talk about being 50 or 60 - but what will you be doing when you are 41, like Michael?
SV: Ah, that’s why I said 50 or 60! I have no idea. You can ask any 21-year-old and he would not have an idea what will happen when he’s almost twice as old. It’s so far away. I only can say that I am extremely happy now: I enjoy what I am doing, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else - not this year, not next year, not in the foreseeable future

Q: How is it for you to race against somebody who is almost double your age?
SV: When I look in my mirror and see whatever kind of car or colour or helmet, I don’t see if the guy’s old or not - it does not make any difference. What he is bringing to the table is a huge amount of experience - and experience comes with age. He’s not 20 anymore but I don’t think that’s a problem. Life is not over when you are 40!

Q: Does he have a chance against you?
SV: Hopefully not, but we definitely have him on the list. But not only him
- also Nico(Rosberg). But let’s be real - right now we are at race one and it does not make too much sense to always talk about the championship. We have to go step by step and race by race and if after five races we realize that we are not in a position to fight for the championship anymore, then you set yourself new targets. The target for now is to win this race, so let’s see.

Source: Formula1.com

Webber: I'm not going to bed thinking about Vettel

Mark Webber has urged that his Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel will be far from his only rival for glory in F1 2010 - even if he reckons the energy drinks-backed outfit's continuity could pay dividends this year...


Mark Webber has insisted that he is not losing any sleep over the challenge he is likely to face from team-mate Sebastian Vettel during the F1 2010 World Championship campaign, arguing that there are 'a lot of quick drivers out there and some pretty good teams' – but acknowledging that continuity is a real feather in Red Bull Racing's cap.

On paper and on the basis of pre-season testing, there appears to be precious little to choose between the four anticipated title protagonists heading towards the curtain-raising Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir this weekend, with Red Bull accompanied by Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and defending double world champions – in the erstwhile guise of Brawn GP – Mercedes Grand Prix.

Amongst that leading quartet, the internecine duels will be fascinating to watch, with countrymen and the most recent two title-winners Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button facing off at McLaren, giant-killer Felipe Massa returning from injury to take on double world champion Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, record-breaking F1 legend Michael Schumacher aiming to prove that he has lost none of his raw pace or flair up against young compatriot Nico Rosberg at Mercedes – and Webber paired with the highly-rated Vettel at RBR, with the German already holding the distinction of being the top flight's youngest-ever grand prix-winner. Focussing on just one rival, though, the Australian points out, would be dangerous and ill-advised in the extreme.

“A lot of people see my team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, as my biggest rival this year,” the 33-year-old wrote in British newspaper The Guardian. “I have to say that there are a lot of quick drivers out there and some pretty good teams. Seb is going to be a quick driver, no question about it, but I'm not going to bed thinking about him; I'm going to bed thinking about myself and doing the best job I can, to get the best results I can, for myself.”

In 2009, Webber's best results were a brace of victories – his breakthrough F1 triumph in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring mid-summer, followed by another in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos close to season's end – as well as six further rostrum finishes that earned the New South Wales native fourth spot in the final drivers' standings following a brief period during which he had threatened to challenge for the title.

He is well aware that more than that will be required if he is to successfully battle for the laurels up against as many as seven adversaries in 2010, but in an age of a number of key rule changes – the most notable being the ban on refuelling, which he suggests will make the initial stages of grands prix 'a bit of a slog' – and driver moves in practically every other team, Red Bull's general continuity, the man from Queanbeyan opines, could well pay dividends.

“There are many things to look forward to in this year's championship,” Webber stressed. “It's good for Red Bull Racing, because we've got a lot of continuity in the team. We're still with Renault engines and, driver-wise, we're very stable. Other teams have changed their driver pairings in some way or another, and these small things can make a difference when Formula 1 is as competitive as it is now.

“Seb and I have worked together, along with our engineers and the technicians from Renault, for some time and this will give us a good advantage. You have traits in engineers and drivers, and it's difficult to learn the system with such limited time. Some drivers have only a handful of days to get ready for the first race, and I think it's going to be interesting when they're under pressure. On race weekends you have to make big decisions at key moments and you don't want to be learning about each other too much at times like that. Continuity is going to be a major strength for us, particularly early on.

“Just by looking at the new cars this season, you can tell that the ban on refuelling is going to cause the biggest change. The cars are like limousines. They're a bit longer because of the need for a larger fuel tank. I'm not particularly bothered by how the cars look – although, saying that, [Red Bull chief technical officer] Adrian Newey has done another fantastic job and the RB6 looks the business – but more important is how the car feels with twice as much fuel on-board. Those early laps in the race are going to be a bit of a slog, but it will be the same for everyone.

“We've got to do a complete race with one tank of fuel, so we need to be looking after the tyres and making sure we understand them. Race strategies will be very different, and the pit-stops even faster than before. Previously each stop was determined by the time it took to get the fuel on-board, taking anything from five-to-eight or nine seconds. Now it's down to simply changing tyres, and the pit crews will be doing that in around three seconds, maybe faster once the pit-stops are refined.”

Source: Crash.net

Vettel names 2010 car 'Luscious Liz'

Sebastian Vettel has named his new RB6 Formula One car 'Luscious Liz'.

The 22-year-old German and 2009 championship runner-up famously called last year's Red Bull 'Kate's Dirty Sister' -- because it was faster and more aggressive than its predecessor 'Kate'.
His 2008 Toro Rosso was called Julie.

Giving his cars a female name, emblazoned on the 'dashboard' of the single seater, is now one of Vettel's several F1-related superstitions.

Vettel religiously steps into his cars and dismounts from the left-hand side, and slides a lucky coin behind the laces of his boot.

"If I could design a superstar, Sebastian would be the result," F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone writes in the latest edition of Auto Bild Motorsport.

"He is exactly what Formula One needs: a young, super-talented driver who is intelligent but not arrogant, popular with the public and good with the media, normal but still very professional," added the 79-year-old.

Source: Motorsport

[Video] Red Bull Racing presenting their new car with Sebastian Vettel

Source: Red Bull Racing

Is reliability the chink in Red Bull armour as F1 2010 nears?

Red Bull Racing's new Adrian Newey-designed, Renault-powered RB6 is undoubtedly quick, but is it yet reliable enough to be able to successfully challenge for glory right from the off in F1 2010..?

Mark Webber has confessed that expected F1 2010 title protagonist Red Bull Racing needs to find 'a little more reliability' during the final pre-season group test in Barcelona later this week – with conventional wisdom going that points scored early on in the campaign through being around when the chequered flag falls very often pay dividends in the closing stages.

The Adrian Newey-designed, Renault-powered RB6 has undeniably been rapid during testing to-date, in the hands of both Webber and young team-mate and 2009 F1 World Championship runner-up Sebastian Vettel – but it has also appeared somewhat fragile too, with an engine failure and some mechanical issues stymieing the energy drinks-backed outfit's efforts and costing the team valuable track time at Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain last week.

The Australian, however – who lapped comfortably quickest on the third day of the four-day session, almost a second out of reach of anybody else – remains confident that it is nothing the Milton Keynes-based squad cannot resolve in time for the Bahrain Grand Prix curtain-raiser just under three weeks away.

“The weather was a lot kinder to us on the last two days and we learned a hell of a lot, no question about it,” the New South Wales native underlined. “We did a lot of stuff with Renault and also learned about the aerodynamics and the chassis – there were lots of things we kept throwing into the fire and we kept learning, so that was good. We need a nice clear run in Barcelona and a little more reliability there and we're ready to go racing.”

In evidence of the RB6's raw pace, Vettel also easily topped the timesheets, on the opening day and this time in the rain – but the German has been quick to downplay any suggestions that RBR is the team to beat heading towards Sakhir, insisting that it impossible to draw an accurate picture of the likely pecking order just yet.

“It's true we did a couple of good runs, but it's hard to know what fuel loads the others were carrying,” the 22-year-old told the official F1 website. “In Barcelona we expect to improve the car even more – how much we succeed, we will see. I have read that Mercedes and McLaren will bring really big updates, so let's wait and see...”

Source: Crash.net

Teething troubles, rain frustrate Red Bull

Mark Webber gave the new Red Bull RB6 a quiet debut as rain blighted the opening day of testing at Jerez.

All eyes were on the new Red Bull RB6 when testing got underway at the Circuit Jerez de la Frontera on Wednesday, as last year's title challenger finally got its 2010 campaign underway, but a mix of gremlins and inclement weather meant that little could be gleaned from the car's first run.

Mark Webber was given the honour of taking chassis RB6-01 out for its maiden run, following its official unveiling in the Jerez pit-lane earlier in the morning, but, despite completing 50 laps and setting a best time of 1min 26.502secs, the Australian ended the day nearly six seconds off the pace after rain arrived before he could really get into the groove.

Despite the track remaining wet from around 10am, however, the team made good progress during the morning, as Webber began working through the new car system checks. The only major glitch came when Webber slowed to a halt on track just before the lunch break, the result of an oil leak that led to a precautionary engine change for the afternoon.

“It was great to finally see the car in action after a long winter with no testing,” head of race engineering Ian Morgan noted, “Everything ran very smoothly this morning and the build of the car was very structured.

"It's frustrating that a problem with a simple component late in the morning forced an engine change later in the day, as it cost us quite a lot of time. However, the most disappointing thing today was the weather – it's good to have a test in the wet, but it's not ideal when it's your first. We're hoping for better conditions tomorrow when we will continue working through the new car system checks.”

Webber is due to continue testing on day two, before handing over to team-mate Sebastian Vettel on Friday.

Source: Crash.net

More photos from RB6 launch this morning

More here

Source: Motorsport Magazin, Sebastian-Vettel.org

Webber to give new Red Bull track debut

Mark Webber will do the honours when Red Bull's 2010 car is given its track debut at Jerez next week.

In order to maximise the RB6's factory development time, the Milton Keynes team was absent at Valencia when the winter testing ban lifted this week.

But when the second test kicks off next Wednesday, the new car will hit the Jerez circuit alongside its key 2010 rivals, including Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes.

It emerges that Australian Webber, 33, will be at the wheel for the opening two days, before Sebastian Vettel concludes the four-day test.

Team boss Christian Horner told the BBC this week that watching Red Bull's 2010 rivals start testing at Valencia did not worry him.

"We have had continuity across all aspects of the team. We follow with interest some of the other developments but we are happy focusing on ourselves," said the Briton.

"I'd be more than happy for others to have the headlines at the moment," Horner added.

Source: F1 Complete