Red Bull
August 5th, 2010 by NZ Classic Car
Although all the recent F1 focus has been on the Hungarian Grand Prix that took place last weekend, the Red Bull team is already looking ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.
Aussie racing driver and all round live-wire Mark Webber jumps in his simulator to take us around the Spa Francorchamps circuit. It’s staggering how realistic the simulator is and Webber is equally impressive, there must be very few Australians that can perform the tasks of both speaking and driving at the same time.
Click on the video below to see the Red Bull simulator and Webber’s skills. Read the rest of this entry »
July 21st, 2010 by NZ Classic Car
Contract negotiations in Formula One never seem easy and who really knows why some decisions on drivers are really made. The 2007 F1 champ, Kimi Raikkonen shifted to the World Rally Championship when he didn’t like his options at the end of last season, and since then rumors have been flying with speculation of his return to the single-seaters. Some reports placed him at Red Bull Racing, others at Renault or Mercedes GP for 2011, but the latest news suggests he’ll continue blasting around the world in his Citroen rally car.
Raikonnen’s long-term future remains up in the air, although his partnership with Red Bull (which sponsors his Citroën rally car) could open the door for a return with the energy drink’s premier F1 team. But based on how well things are looking for Red Bull F1 at the moment, that won’t come until 2012 at the earliest, so the other top dogs on the Formula One grid can breathe a little easier for another season.
July 14th, 2010 by NZ Classic Car
Before this year’s Pikes Peak hill climb many thought the 10-minute barrier would fall and that kiwi boy Rhys Millen would be the the man to achieve it. But it didn’t quite work out that way as Millen and Hyundai saw their hopes dashed as both mountain and machine became temperamental. Millen would end up having to settle for third.
But the good news is that money bags sponsors Red Bull have made an awesome video of the week’s action for the Millen camp. The energy drink company had cameras placed all over Millen’s Hyundai PM580 during its run and even had a helicopter in the air. This video is beautifully produced and well worth a look, check it out below. Read the rest of this entry »
July 6th, 2010 by NZ Classic Car
The world of Formula One is a special one and recent rule changes have made it difficult for teams to get in any sort of real practice. It’s not just an issue for drivers, but also poses a challenge for the guys working the pits. So when Red Bull pulled some strings for Mark Webber to perform a complete pit stop in front of England’s House of Parliament in London, the crew was probably stoked to get their gloves dirty. The stunt was to promote the upcoming British Grand Prix scheduled to kick off next weekend (July 9) at Silverstone.
Webber hadn’t actually been back in the cockpit since his stunning crash in Valencia, but the Aussie driver looks good enough to take on the rest of the field in less than a week. The Red Bull pit crew seem just fine as well and managed a 3.2-second pit stop at the strange scene in downtown London.
Click on the link below to view the video Read the rest of this entry »
June 25th, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
After all the backstabbing and toy-throwing that’s been going on in Formula One, it appears there will be a unified championship series again next year. According to The Times UK, controversial F1 boss Max Mosley has been “forced into a humiliating resignation as president of the FIA,” and his reign is over effective immediately.
Apparently, when the Formula One Teams Association’s (FOTA) plan to build its own breakaway series (read news item) and take most of the highest-profile drawcards away with it, the FIA realised that something had to be done. Eight teams, including Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, and Brawn GP had pulled out of the series over concerns relating to a new £40m budget cap (around $102m NZD).
With Mosley’s departure, F1 teams and the sanctioning body have agreed to cost cuts with the goal of getting spending outlays back down to the that of the early Nineties within two years.
Mosley has agreed to end his 16 year term at the FIA, not seek re-election to another office, and to go away and contemplate revenge.
June 22nd, 2009 by NZ Classic Car
After meeting at Renault’s Enstone, England headquarters the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) bosses representing the eight “rebel” F1 teams (Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota, Renault, BMW, Brawn, Red Bull, Toro Rosso) decided there was no way to proceed with the F1 governing body the FIA, so it would proceed without the FIA.
The FOTA feels that the wishes of the majority of the teams have been ignored. The team body is not willing to compromise on what it believes are the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship. Apparently tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006.
The FOTA has confirmed that it plans to commence preparations for a new Championship, which it describes as reflecting the values of its participants and partners. This new series will be set up with transparent governance, have one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.
Importantly, the star drivers, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.
As for next year’s 2010 F1 season, only McLaren, BMW, Renault, Toyota and Brawn are listed as provisional on the initial FIA entry list, but Ferrari and Red Bull’s two teams are bound to compete according to existing agreements.
