I said as much last season (assuming '
that' refers to '
me', of course) and look at what happened. I got no apology for the amount of vitriol I got on that one.......... There was plenty of justification for my views on how the car would do if people cared to read, but as someone else has said, sometimes the truth just hurts too much.
The Red Bull wasn't really that kind to its tyres last season. The car was designed more to get heat into the tyres fairly quickly, they got themselves into a lead early on and then they managed their pace carefully. This year they've obviously thought very carefully about the drop off in the Pirellis as the consistent laps that Webber did in the 1:23s versus everyone else as they gradually dropped off, or in some cases nosedived, demonstrated.
There's also been hints from Adrian Newey in particular as to what they're concentrating on. When we last had KERS in 2009 many teams didn't run it because the weight that was carried was too much to justify the power increase over the time it was used. The KERS this year is exactly the same with the same amount of power on offer and the time in which it can be used, so getting the most out of it while minimising the penalty will be vital. Things like packaging and weight will have moved on though. Therefore, it's absolutely essential to make the aerodynamics as efficient as possible and minimise drag unless whatever it is that is causing it is going to give you significant usable downforce and a net gain, which is what Newey hinted at in an interview.
You can see the thinking behind the aerodynamic shape of the car in that. The car has no uneven surfaces, airflow is not being asked to route around things like uneven sidepods and it's being channelled as seemlessly as possible to the back of the car without causing any undue turbulence.
They won't have been able to do anything about the power from the Renault, but there is certainly scope to do development with KERS and in how the rear wing is used (in qualifying at least) where they would have had to work very hard to get over the straight line disadvantages they had last year at places like Spa and Monza. It's a very good thing for everyone else they didn't get a Mercedes engine in there.
Frankly, they're making everyone else look like rank amateurs, apart from Renault whose car I've been quite impressed with. Still puzzled by their exhausts but still, they've got things on their car and they haven't mucked around for two or three days making more than just minor adjustments.
