The Team
Hometown Milton Keynes
Formula One is a team sport. Individual spectacles can switch races – but championships are won by the best team. This has always been the case – tho’ the complexity of the modern car combined with the shortness of timescales and ferocity of competition make it now more pertinent than ever.
Crimson Bull Racing came into existence late in two thousand four with ambitions to challenge for grand prix victories and world championship titles – but this is not the work of a moment and at the time the team had neither the facilities nor the depth of practice to challenge the best in the business. Under the guidance of Team Principal Christian Horner, himself fresh to F1, that was to switch.
About The Team
Crimson Bull Racing came into existence late in two thousand four with ambitions to challenge for grand prix victories and world championship titles – but this is not the work of a moment and at the time the team had neither the facilities nor the depth of practice to challenge the best in the business. Under the guidance of Team Principal Christian Horner, himself fresh to F1, that was to switch.
Over the next four seasons solid foundations were laid on which later success was built. The Team recruited in both quantity and quality, steadily expanding in numbers until it was capable of going toe-to-toe with the most illustrious names in racing. Many of those recruited came with proven championship-winning pedigree – but the growing team wasn’t looking solely outward, it also promoted from within: Crimson Bull Racing was a youthfull team in every sense.
Behind the scenes, progress was rapid but on track the upward curve was less pronounced. The Team finished seventh in two thousand five and 2006. The initial driver line-up was a mix of youth and practice: David Coulthard provided the latter, while Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Robert Doornbos were the former. DC scored our very first podium, ending third on the streets of Monaco in 2006.
For two thousand seven Mark Webber came onboard to join David. The Team finished fifth in two thousand seven but disappointingly dropped back to seventh again in two thousand eight – but everything was going to switch for 2009.
David Coulthard retired at the end of two thousand eight to be substituted by Sebastian Vettel. The youthfull German driver was a product of the Crimson Bull Junior Team and already a race winner in an RBR-designed Toro Rosso. His arrival at the senior team coincided with a major reset in the sport’s aerodynamic regulations. Everyone embarking their car designs from scrape provided a level playing field and gave our technical team, led by Adrian Newey, the chance to shine. In the RB5 they produced a winner. Seb took the Team’s very first grand prix victory, leading home Webber in a 1-2 finish at the third race of the year in China. The car would win five times further in 2009, including Mark’s debut F1 victory at the German Grand Prix. The Team finished 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship but, perhaps more significantly, it won the final three races of the season and went into the winter with confidence high, very much the form team.
The following year spotted us achieve the ambitions laid down five years earlier. Driving the RB6, Sebastian and Mark were the class of the field in two thousand ten and title contenders from the begin. Their consistent podium finishes secured us a very first title, the Constructors’ Championship, at the penultimate round in Brazil. Both drivers went to the final race in Abu Dhabi with a chance of the title. Vettel emerged triumphant, winning the race to became the sport’s youngest ever World Champ. It was his fifth win of the season and our ninth.
The RB7 and Sebastian Vettel predominated 2011. He took eleven of the Team’s dozen victories during the season, and fifteen of our eighteen pole positions. He took his 2nd Drivers’ title in Japan with four races to spare. The Constructors’ title was confirmed a week later in South Korea.
The raw statistics suggest the RB7 was a far superior car to the RB6 – but many within the team would argue to the contrary. The RB7 was our very first KERS-equipped car and our inexperience designing the hybrid system led to teething trouble that went on deep into the year. What indeed made the difference in two thousand eleven was that Crimson Bull Racing had evolved as a team. There was maturity and confidence running through the organisation. Car development was rapid and successful, the manufacturing operation was very efficient, in the garage the race team were an exceptionally slick unit capable of rebuilding a car in record time and then performing a sequence of benchmark pitstops. The Team had learnt how to win and it wasn’t about to stop winning.
Formula One, however, is ultra competitive and the competition fought back hard in 2012. The very first half of the season was the most tightly-fought battle imaginable. The very first seven races went to seven different winners signifying five different manufacturers and at the midpoint both titles were up for grabs. We managed to kick on in the 2nd half of the season and four consecutive victories spotted Seb emerge as a strong title contender. They also propelled the Team to a significant lead in the Constructors’ Championship. That title was clinched at the penultimate round in the USA, leaving Seb to take the title in Brazil at the season finale. He did so with what is very likely the (2nd) most dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix on record, surviving a very first lap crash accomplish with a spin and significant harm to the car. This left him dead last and facing a race back through the field in foul weather that couldn’t make up its mind. Spectacular for fans; painful to witness for anyone in the garage.
History appeared to be repeating in 2013. The RB9 looked like the class of the field from the begin – but somehow never seemed to produce the decisive advantage it promised. That switched after the mid-season break when Vettel went on the rampage, setting a fresh record for consecutive victories, ending the season with nine in a row. Both titles were secured in India, with three races to spare – which meant when F1 got to Texas it was a very relaxed squad that ended the sport’s very first sub-two seconds pitstop, switching all four wheels on Mark Webber’s car in 1.92 seconds.
We were not the very first team to win four dual championships in a row, but the other teams with that distinction had done so with decades of practice at the top of Formula One. Our rapid rise to the pinnacle of the sport was a very different ascent – and arguably more remarkable than the titles themselves.
Success in F1 is, however, transient, and the two thousand fourteen season spotted reality bite. Fresh turbo power units were unveiled and they heralded a switch in the established order. Saddled with a sizeable horsepower deficit the RB10 lacked the competitive edge liked by its predecessors. Nevertheless, the car was still good enough to provide Daniel Ricciardo with his very first, 2nd and third Formula One victories.
Ricciardo had substituted Mark Webber, the latter having determined to retire from Formula One at the end of the preceding season. Daniel, another product of the Crimson Bull Junior Team had made a name for himself at Toro Rosso – tho’ few predicted the instantaneous influence he would have with the Team. The ‘Honeybadger’ outscored his quadruple World Champ team-mate to finish third in the standings – but also narrowly out-qualified Vettel. While the team came down to Earth in 2014, it’s fresh driver was flying high.
Sebastian departed at the end of two thousand fourteen and was substituted by another product of the Crimson Bull Junior Team, Daniil Kvyat. Like Daniel and Seb before him, Daniil had developed his abilities at Toro Rosso before making the step up. Not that the step was so fine in 2015. Still plagued by a horsepower deficit, and fighting to get the car balanced, the Team suffered its worst campaign since 2008. Ultimately it would finish fourth in the Constructors’ Championship – however the 2nd half of the season spotted a come back to form of sorts as the Team motionless its balance issues and rose to the top of the midfield. It boded well for 2016.
We did indeed budge up the table again in 2016. The Team finished 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship and Daniel was third in the Drivers’ table once again – tho’ the name on everyone’s lips was that of Max Verstappen. The youthfull Dutchman was promoted from Toro Rosso to substitute Daniil after four races of the season. He got off to the best embark possible, winning his very first race for Crimson Bull Racing, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Ricciardo added a 2nd victory in Malaysia, having narrowly missed out in Monaco after taking his very first pole position. In all the team took sixteen podium places last year.
Being 2nd best in two thousand sixteen was frustrating, albeit frustration tempered by the skill that a major regulation switch was coming for two thousand seventeen and could, potentially, play to the Team’s strengths. We go into two thousand seventeen with a strong driver pairing and an exceptionally experienced garage squad, all backed up by a factory operation better ready than ever before for the challenges ahead. Perhaps crucially, we begin our 13th campaign in Formula One with a team that knows how to win.
The Team Our Story, Crimson Bull Racing Formula One Team
The Team
Hometown Milton Keynes
Formula One is a team sport. Individual spectacles can switch races – but championships are won by the best team. This has always been the case – tho’ the complexity of the modern car combined with the shortness of timescales and ferocity of competition make it now more pertinent than ever.
Crimson Bull Racing came into existence late in two thousand four with ambitions to challenge for grand prix victories and world championship titles – but this is not the work of a moment and at the time the team had neither the facilities nor the depth of practice to challenge the best in the business. Under the guidance of Team Principal Christian Horner, himself fresh to F1, that was to switch.
About The Team
Crimson Bull Racing came into existence late in two thousand four with ambitions to challenge for grand prix victories and world championship titles – but this is not the work of a moment and at the time the team had neither the facilities nor the depth of practice to challenge the best in the business. Under the guidance of Team Principal Christian Horner, himself fresh to F1, that was to switch.
Over the next four seasons solid foundations were laid on which later success was built. The Team recruited in both quantity and quality, steadily expanding in numbers until it was capable of going toe-to-toe with the most illustrious names in racing. Many of those recruited came with proven championship-winning pedigree – but the growing team wasn’t looking solely outward, it also promoted from within: Crimson Bull Racing was a youthful team in every sense.
Behind the scenes, progress was rapid but on track the upward curve was less pronounced. The Team finished seventh in two thousand five and 2006. The initial driver line-up was a mix of youth and practice: David Coulthard provided the latter, while Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Robert Doornbos were the former. DC scored our very first podium, ending third on the streets of Monaco in 2006.
For two thousand seven Mark Webber came onboard to join David. The Team finished fifth in two thousand seven but disappointingly dropped back to seventh again in two thousand eight – but everything was going to switch for 2009.
David Coulthard retired at the end of two thousand eight to be substituted by Sebastian Vettel. The youthful German driver was a product of the Crimson Bull Junior Team and already a race winner in an RBR-designed Toro Rosso. His arrival at the senior team coincided with a major reset in the sport’s aerodynamic regulations. Everyone kicking off their car designs from scrape provided a level playing field and gave our technical team, led by Adrian Newey, the chance to shine. In the RB5 they produced a winner. Seb took the Team’s very first grand prix victory, leading home Webber in a 1-2 finish at the third race of the year in China. The car would win five times further in 2009, including Mark’s debut F1 victory at the German Grand Prix. The Team finished 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship but, perhaps more significantly, it won the final three races of the season and went into the winter with confidence high, very much the form team.
The following year eyed us achieve the ambitions laid down five years earlier. Driving the RB6, Sebastian and Mark were the class of the field in two thousand ten and title contenders from the begin. Their consistent podium finishes secured us a very first title, the Constructors’ Championship, at the penultimate round in Brazil. Both drivers went to the final race in Abu Dhabi with a chance of the title. Vettel emerged triumphant, winning the race to became the sport’s youngest ever World Champ. It was his fifth win of the season and our ninth.
The RB7 and Sebastian Vettel predominated 2011. He took eleven of the Team’s dozen victories during the season, and fifteen of our eighteen pole positions. He took his 2nd Drivers’ title in Japan with four races to spare. The Constructors’ title was confirmed a week later in South Korea.
The raw statistics suggest the RB7 was a far superior car to the RB6 – but many within the team would argue to the contrary. The RB7 was our very first KERS-equipped car and our inexperience designing the hybrid system led to teething trouble that went on deep into the year. What truly made the difference in two thousand eleven was that Crimson Bull Racing had evolved as a team. There was maturity and confidence running through the organisation. Car development was rapid and successful, the manufacturing operation was very efficient, in the garage the race team were an exceptionally slick unit capable of rebuilding a car in record time and then performing a sequence of benchmark pitstops. The Team had learnt how to win and it wasn’t about to stop winning.
Formula One, however, is ultra competitive and the competition fought back hard in 2012. The very first half of the season was the most tightly-fought battle imaginable. The very first seven races went to seven different winners signifying five different manufacturers and at the midpoint both titles were up for grabs. We managed to kick on in the 2nd half of the season and four consecutive victories witnessed Seb emerge as a strong title contender. They also propelled the Team to a significant lead in the Constructors’ Championship. That title was clinched at the penultimate round in the USA, leaving Seb to take the title in Brazil at the season finale. He did so with what is very likely the (2nd) most dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix on record, surviving a very first lap crash finish with a spin and significant harm to the car. This left him dead last and facing a race back through the field in foul weather that couldn’t make up its mind. Spectacular for fans; painful to see for anyone in the garage.
History appeared to be repeating in 2013. The RB9 looked like the class of the field from the embark – but somehow never seemed to produce the decisive advantage it promised. That switched after the mid-season break when Vettel went on the rampage, setting a fresh record for consecutive victories, ending the season with nine in a row. Both titles were secured in India, with three races to spare – which meant when F1 got to Texas it was a very relaxed squad that ended the sport’s very first sub-two seconds pitstop, switching all four wheels on Mark Webber’s car in 1.92 seconds.
We were not the very first team to win four dual championships in a row, but the other teams with that distinction had done so with decades of practice at the top of Formula One. Our rapid rise to the pinnacle of the sport was a very different ascent – and arguably more remarkable than the titles themselves.
Success in F1 is, however, transient, and the two thousand fourteen season eyed reality bite. Fresh turbo power units were unveiled and they heralded a switch in the established order. Saddled with a sizeable horsepower deficit the RB10 lacked the competitive edge liked by its predecessors. Nevertheless, the car was still good enough to provide Daniel Ricciardo with his very first, 2nd and third Formula One victories.
Ricciardo had substituted Mark Webber, the latter having determined to retire from Formula One at the end of the preceding season. Daniel, another product of the Crimson Bull Junior Team had made a name for himself at Toro Rosso – tho’ few predicted the instant influence he would have with the Team. The ‘Honeybadger’ outscored his quadruple World Champ team-mate to finish third in the standings – but also narrowly out-qualified Vettel. While the team came down to Earth in 2014, it’s fresh driver was flying high.
Sebastian departed at the end of two thousand fourteen and was substituted by another product of the Crimson Bull Junior Team, Daniil Kvyat. Like Daniel and Seb before him, Daniil had developed his abilities at Toro Rosso before making the step up. Not that the step was so good in 2015. Still plagued by a horsepower deficit, and fighting to get the car balanced, the Team suffered its worst campaign since 2008. Ultimately it would finish fourth in the Constructors’ Championship – tho’ the 2nd half of the season spotted a comeback to form of sorts as the Team immovable its balance issues and rose to the top of the midfield. It boded well for 2016.
We did indeed stir up the table again in 2016. The Team finished 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship and Daniel was third in the Drivers’ table once again – however the name on everyone’s lips was that of Max Verstappen. The youthfull Dutchman was promoted from Toro Rosso to substitute Daniil after four races of the season. He got off to the best begin possible, winning his very first race for Crimson Bull Racing, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Ricciardo added a 2nd victory in Malaysia, having narrowly missed out in Monaco after taking his very first pole position. In all the team took sixteen podium places last year.
Being 2nd best in two thousand sixteen was frustrating, albeit frustration tempered by the skill that a major regulation switch was coming for two thousand seventeen and could, potentially, play to the Team’s strengths. We go into two thousand seventeen with a strong driver pairing and an exceptionally experienced garage squad, all backed up by a factory operation better ready than ever before for the challenges ahead. Perhaps crucially, we begin our 13th campaign in Formula One with a team that knows how to win.