Red Bull Racing is for real!

By John Sharpe
March 8 2005

As I lay in my bed staring at the television nodding my head with approval over Red Bull Racing’s fantastic debut weekend in Melbourne, I had a decision to make. Was it going to be the Tylenol Cold and Flu medication once again? Or was I going to claim the euphoria that I was now feeling with DC’s

near podium finish and have drink of my old stand by, RED BULL and vodka.

Since the beginning of winter testing there have been so many question marks regarding RBR. Who will be the drivers? Will they be experienced enough? After the sacking of David Pitchforth and Tony Purnell I really began to worry. What was happening here? Pitch and Purnell added the one thing that Red Bull Racing needed in a time of uncertain transition, stability. Now the two men who greatly improved the new RB1 package that David Coulthard and Christian Klien are enjoying are gone.
While the testing times suggested something special, most of us RBR fans where out deliberating on a verdict. Yours truly had been very vocal and adamant that Mr. Mateschitz and Helmut Marko made an error in judgment and perhaps hastily did away with the two most important people at the new Red Bull Racing Team.
After a few days however, and once the dust began to settle I realized that this wasn’t my team. I wasn’t the one pumping millions of my own dollars to have the team I wanted. I also wasn’t a fly on the wall in the Red Bull boardroom so how could I know exactly what plans were in the making, right.
Then the announcement came. Christian Horner would become the new sporting director with Gunther Steiner the technical director. An F3000 boss and a once fired Jaguar director hired for the two top positions. Then I began to speculate again. What were DM and HM up to back in Austria? I remember Steiner from his short stint with Jaguar after being hired by Nikki Lauda. Had lauda not fallen out of favor when Richard Parry-Jones took over the Jag operation for Ford, Steiner more than probably would have already been with the team? Steiner was only dumped when Parry-Jones hired Pitch and Purnell. Moreover, a year later those two are out as well. The more that things change, the more they stay the same it would seem.
As for Horner, I was nervous. Now, because I had no more nails to bite, I was wildly looking at my fiancée Elizabeth’s hands for comfort. I was back to the same old questions. Horner is 31, is he even old enough to spell F1. What makes a 31 year old think that he could run an F1 outfit when he has not even run a large company before? The more I chatted back and forth with my self shopping at the supermarket, I do my best thinking in the meat section. The one constant kept resurfacing, Thirty-one. The number thirty-one seemed to have some sort of influence as to why I felt Christian Horner couldn’t run this F1 outfit. I was so caught up with everyone’s assessment that I forgot that age shouldn’t be the qualifying matter in the search for a new sporting director. It should be Desire, Passion and Leadership. Christian Horner is a winner and possesses all of those qualities. He is a person similar to Eddie Jordan. Horner has won in F3000. He was a respected team boss in the formula, and has had his eyes set on entering F1 for some time. A young man with new and fresh ideas in a fraternity where change is somewhat nonexistent, Christian helps break down those typical denominators and probably relates better to today’s drivers than say a Frank Williams or Ron Dennis type. He is more or less like Luca di Montezemelo while heading the Ferrari F1 team in the 1970’s. Only difference was, Luca was in his mid twenties.
So after a few extra mintes in the checkout line I began to envision a team with great potential here. Youth would take over and give Formula One back to her fans. Okay, that answers those questions but what about the loss of Pitch and Purnell.

It isn’t any secret that the car we saw that nearly scored a podium for RBR in their maiden GP was designed by Pitch and Purnell. However, what we fail to see is that the core team that surrounded them, doing the legwork, crunching the numbers and designing the car remains in order. Ian Pocock has stayed on as the team’s director of engineering along with the talented aerodynamicist, Ben Agathangelou. Agathangelou was wooed from Renault to Jaguar by Gunther Steiner to work on the aero issues of the R3 while Steiner was the interim technical director for Jaguar. Rob Taylor, who was head of vehicle design for Jaguar is still with the team in the same capacity and was essentially responsible for the design of the new car. Both taylor and agahtangelou worked hard to correct the mistakes of the past R5 Jaguar to create a more simplified yet aggressive Red Bull RB1. The above-mentioned group deserves a great deal of credit for the work done on the RB1. Yes, Purnell and Pitchforth were greatly responsible for this car however; they provided the leadership necessary to get those changes done. Currently Red Bull Racing stands as strong as ever. They have continued to score one coup after another with the addition of Mark Smith and Anton Stipinovich.
It’s no secret that Jordan is fuming with the loss of Smith. Mark is widely known throughout the paddock and has done great work while at Renault and Jordan. Mark saw an opportunity that obviously he couldn’t pass up after Midland snatched up Jordan. As for Stipinovich, any man heading up the development team for RBR Who has worked for both Ferrari and Mclaren is a huge assest.

Was I surprised at the result of the Australian Grand Prix? Yes and No.
No because I knew that both DC and CK had a great opportunity before the first crate was unpacked to score a top ten finish. Yes because I genuinely thought, DC had second wrapped up.
His drive as well as Klien’s displayed the strong combination of power plant and chassis that Red Bull has. From the time Red Bull bought Jaguar, the team has had to hit the ground running.
I think Christian Horner and Gunther Steiner have made some great moves and the technical team will not only gel but also solidify into a fantastic group of individuals working to secure not just points but actual podiums in the not so distant future this season.

One more thing, as I now reach for the cough syrup. I want to welcome all the new RBR fans as well as the old Stewart/Jaguar fans to the site. This is awesome to see because we are on the cusp of something great this year and for many years to come. Red Bull as a company is dedicated to this team not only financially but emotionally as well. Their drive and passion will lead to the overall success of the team and all of us play an equally important part. Red Bull Racing is a team that is being given back to the fans and as fans; we need to support “our” team. I am very proud of what this team has accomplished through all of the changes. Through stability, reliability is achieved.

With the Vodka back in the freezer and the RED BULL chilling in the fridge for Malaysia next week, It’s now time to get some sleep.