After having to watch junior sibling Toro Rosso scoop the Red Bull company’s maiden victory last year, the senior team needed to find a response in 2009 to reassert its family superiority and, more importantly, find that elusive Formula 1 breakthrough.
Adrian Newey’s latest creation proved just the ticket and allowed RBR to become not only a regular front-runner but a multiple race-winner and title challenger.
The 2009 season was always going to be an important one for Red Bull Racing.
In its first four years of Formula 1 the team had certainly earned the respect of the paddock, but its achievements to that point – three podiums and a best finish of fifth in the constructors’ championship (in a year McLaren was disqualified) – had been fairly underwhelming.
Therefore it knew that with such a radical rules overhaul taking place over the winter, this was the moment to finally catapult itself out of the midfield.
That it did so emphatically proved the potential that had always been waiting to be unlocked.
Six victories, four 1-2 finishes and five poles added up to an impressive second place in the constructors’ championship – making 2009 most certainly RBR’s breakthrough year.
In truth, while its past form had hardly merited it, the F1 world had been eagerly anticipating the first glimpse of the team’s latest creation thanks to design guru Adrian Newey’s reputation for excellence and innovation during periods of technical change.
Unsurprisingly he didn’t disappoint: the RB5 was visibly different from any other 2009 car, its bodywork containing far more swooping curves than some of its rivals’ more ungainly interpretations.
The car was more aggressive in its aerodynamics too; its slim nose and intricate bodywork showing Newey had a firm grasp of F1’s new technical parameters, while the car’s pull-rod suspension was a unique, and significant, extra touch.
Of course one thing the striking car didn’t have to begin with was a double-diffuser – something which in the final analysis undoubtedly proved decisive in Brawn’s championship triumphs.
Still, while fellow non-diffuser teams such as Ferrari and McLaren floundered in the early races, the fundamental quality of the RB5 meant the team still mixed it with the ‘diffuser gang’ of three.
Indeed Sebastian Vettel, promoted from STR over the winter, would have capped an otherwise impressive debut weekend for the team in Melbourne with a podium finish had he not unnecessarily tangled with old BMW pal Robert Kubica while fighting over second in the closing laps.
Still, RBR only had to wait until round three to break its victory duck, Vettel brilliantly leading home stable-mate and fellow wet-weather specialist Mark Webber for the team’s first victory at a waterlogged Shanghai.
The return to drier conditions in Bahrain and Barcelona did offer up further opportunities for Red Bull to beat Brawn but majestic performances from Jenson Button limited it to just a second and third.
Its own version of the double diffuser finally arrived for Monaco, but since the rear of the car and gearbox had not been designed to accommodate such a feature, it took time for Newey to really exploit its full advantages.
After the new-look car showed its potential in Turkey, a revised diffuser and a big aero overhaul resulted in a huge step forward at Silverstone.
The RB5 was in a class of its own throughout the weekend on the Northamptonshire track’s fast sweeps, Vettel heading the team’s second 1-2 of the year.
Webber then turned the tables on his young partner with a fully deserved maiden win at the Nurburgring as RBR totally dominated once more.
Now within 20 points of Brawn in the standings, Red Bull seemed certain to reel its rival in over the summer.
Yet, no sooner had it established itself as the team to beat than a late summer slide undid much of the hard work.
Indeed in five races between Hungary and Singapore the team claimed just 18 points, allowing Brawn – which secured two priceless victories during this period – the crucial points buffer it needed.
The team failed to capitalise on a few golden opportunities to score big when the Brawns were on the rack – such as in Hungary (when 2-3 grid positions behind Fernando Alonso’s low-fuelled Renault yielded just six points) and Spa (when poor qualifying hampered a race it was expected to dominate).
There was also the growing issue of engine reliability, Red Bull having to start limiting Vettel’s Friday practice mileage after a spate of Renault blow-ups in Valencia pushed him close to the penalty-free limit.
By the time the RB5 did come back on song with another significant package of upgrades for Singapore, Brawn’s consistent points scoring meant the title was all but mathematically out of reach.
This didn’t stop Red Bull signing off the season with a late flurry of wins, Vettel (Japan and Abu Dhabi) and Webber (Brazil) showing that, while it may have missed out on ultimate glory, Red Bull was undoubtedly ending the year with the grid’s fastest car.
To some, it also had on its books the driver of 2009 in Vettel.
For much of the year the 22-year-old rivalled Button as the grid’s star performer, his abilities in delivering a critical qualifying lap under pressure and controlling races from the front two of the qualities that mark him out as a future world champion.
On other occasions, though, you were reminded of the fact he was only in his second full season of F1.
A crash in Monaco, a slip that let Button through at the start in Turkey, along with that tangle with Kubica in Australia, all resulted in the frittering away of crucial early points and meant he wasn’t much closer to his Brawn rival when he got a severe case of the yips in the year’s second half.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic from his year though was the fact he triumphed 15-2 in his qualifying duel with Webber, a man who up until 2009 had been regarded as one of F1’s best one-lap specialists.
That’s not to say Webber didn’t leave his own mark on the campaign – indeed, considering he enjoyed by far the best year of his eight-year career, it helped finally banish the long-in-the-tooth notion that he is a far better qualifier than racer.
Although he had initially played down the lingering effects of the broken leg he suffered during the winter, it undoubtedly took the 33-year-old time to get into his stride.
But once the determined Aussie was back to his best, he hit a purple patch in the early summer – recording five podium finishes in six races, including his hugely emotional and long overdue maiden success at the Nurburgring.
And while a disappointing run of five straight point-less races thereafter ultimately scuppered his growing title dreams, he hit back superbly with another win at Interlagos.
With a trouble-free winter behind him this time around should be ready to take on Vettel from the off next year.
Indeed Red Bull as a whole will be hoping it can carry the momentum from what was by far its best ever season into 2010.
The fact rival teams are already being tipped to arrive in Bahrain in March with RB5 ‘clones’ suggests the team that produced the original concept could remain a step ahead.
Highlight: The team’s dominant 1-2 at its home British GP.
Lowlight: Missing out on the double diffuser at the start of the year; had it incorporated this into the RB5 design it would probably have won the title.
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