 Sebastian Vettel driving the RB5 at the2009 Spanish Grand Prix | |||||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Red Bull | ||||||||||
| Designers | Adrian Newey(Chief Technical Officer) Geoff Willis(Technical Director) Rob Marshall(Chief Designer) Mark Ellis(Chief Engineer, Performance) Iain Bomphray(Chief Engineer, Composites) Andrew Green(Head of R&D) Peter Prodromou(Head of Aerodynamics) Dan Fallows(Chief Aerodynamicist) | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | Red Bull RB4 | ||||||||||
| Successor | Red Bull RB6 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications[1] | |||||||||||
| Chassis | compositemonocoque | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Aluminium alloy uprights, upper and lower carbon wishbones and pushrods, torsion bar springs and anti roll bars,Multimatic dampers | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Same as front, except Pull Rod | ||||||||||
| Engine | Renault RS27 (90°) 2400ccV8,naturally aspirated,mid-engine,longitudinally mounted, 18,000 RPM-Limited | ||||||||||
| Transmission | 7 forward + 1 reverse | ||||||||||
| Power | >750 hp @ 18,000 rpm[2] | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Total | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Bridgestone Potenza OZ Racing Front: 12.7in x 13in OZ Racing Rear: 13.4in x 13in | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | Red Bull Racing | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 14. Mark Webber15.  Sebastian Vettel | ||||||||||
| Debut | 2009 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| First win | 2009 Chinese Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last win | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last event | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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TheRed Bull RB5 is aFormula Oneracing car designed by theRed Bull Racing team for the2009 Formula One season. It was driven bySebastian Vettel, who drove for Red Bull's sister teamToro Rosso in the2008 season, andMark Webber. The car was launched on 9 February 2009 at theCircuito de Jerez inSpain.[3]
The car gave the team its first pole position, first win and first ever 1–2 finish at the2009 Chinese Grand Prix. Over the course of the season the car turned out to be competitive as it won 6 out of 17 races, with Vettel winning four races and Webber winning two. As a result, the team finished 2nd in the Constructors' Championship standings behindBrawn GP and Vettel finished second in the Drivers' Championship standings behindJenson Button. In July 2010, Red Bull gifted designer Adrian Newey a complete RB5 car as a "thank you" gift for turning Red Bull into a title-challenging team. Newey first drove the car at the hill at theGoodwood Festival of Speed.[4]
New rules in place for the 2009 season required cars to have narrower and higher rear wings and wider and lower front wings, designed to reduce air disturbance to following cars and hence make overtaking easier.[5][6]Slick tyres were re-introduced into Formula One, after being absent since1998.[7] This was expected to increase the RB5's tyre grip by about 20%.[7]
There was a possibility that the RB5 could feature aKinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which would allow energy which would otherwise be wasted while braking to be re-used in set amounts per lap, via a boost button on the driver's steering wheel.[7] This was the result of new rules for the 2009 season.[7] Red Bull originally attempted to develop their own system, but a factory fire resulting from overheated batteries stalled progress.[8] In January 2009 Red Bull announced that they would use an identical KERS system to theRenault team, in an extension of the existing customer engine deal between the teams.[8] However the RB5 never did race with KERS.
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The RB5 was launched later than most of its rivals, to allow a longer development time at the expense of a shorter testing time.[9] Red Bull expected the RB5 to be more competitive than its predecessor, theRB4, which achieved a singlepodium in 2008.[10] Vettel was optimistic when questioned about the car's potential:
"Obviously it's not correct sitting here and say I am going to win the world championship. I want to, but we need to see. We need to see how we are going, where we are in comparison to the others. I believe that the new rules could give a chance to teams like us to close the gap to the front but the favourites areFerrari andMcLaren, no doubt."[11]
Sebastian Vettel, who (since joiningScuderia Toro Rosso) makes it a habit to name his racing cars, named his Red Bull RB5 'Kate' and after crashing it at Melbourne's Albert Park, he named his new chassis 'Kate's Dirty Sister'.[12]
Initial tests of the RB5 at Jerez were halted when highgearbox oil temperatures were detected.[13] When the issue was resolved the RB5 was the quickest 2009 specification car at Jerez, where Vettel was faster than the equivalentWilliams, McLaren and Renault cars.[14] Webber returned to the cockpit after breaking his leg while cycling in November 2008; he completed 83 laps in the RB5, around the distance of aGrand Prix, and reported no problems whilst lapping faster than Vettel the previous day.[15]
Early in the season the car showed huge performance with Vettel taking the first win for the team inChina with Webber in second place giving the team their first 1-2 ever. As the season progressed the car continued to show its pace and by the mid-season its pace had increased to the point where it had overtaken theBrawn BGP 001 as the fastest car on the grid.
The car started the season with a narrow needle like nose (as was the common practice for that year.) However, for theBritish Grand Prix, the nose was replaced with a flatter wider nose. This design was used by Red Bull for the remainder of the V8 era.
| RB5 | Four built (RB5/01–RB5/04) – three of them race winners[16] |
|---|---|
| RB5 01 "Kate"[16] | Shakedown tested by Vettel and Webber atJerez in February 2009.[17][18][19] Raced by Vettel to wins atShanghai (also pole position),Suzuka (also pole position), andYas Marina (also fastest lap). Also raced by Vettel atAlbert Park,Sepang,Bahrain,Barcelona-Catalunya (Spanish GP),Monaco, andIstanbul (also pole position), and then later atSpa-Francorchamps (also fastest lap),Monza,Marina Bay, andInterlagos.[16] |
| RB5 02 | Raced by Webber to (his maiden) victory, at theNürburgring (also pole position). Also raced by him previously at Albert Park, Sepang, Shanghai, Bahrain, Barcelona-Catalunya (Spanish GP), Monaco, Istanbul, andSilverstone, later at theHungaroring (also fastest lap), and later still at Monza and Marina Bay. Used by him only in practice at Suzuka (crashed).[16][20] |
| RB5 03 | Only RB5 chassis not to win a GP.[16] Used by Vettel only in practice at Albert Park. Raced by Webber atValencia (European GP) and Spa-Francorchamps.[16][21] |
| RB5 04 "Kate's Dirty Sister"[16] | Raced by Vettel, to a win at Silverstone (also pole position and fastest lap), and later at the Nürburgring, the Hungaroring and Valencia (European GP). Later still, raced by Webber, to victory at Interlagos (also fastest lap), and previously at Suzuka (also fastest lap), and ultimately at Yas Marina.[16][22] |
(key) (results inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Red Bull Racing | RenaultRS27V8 | B | AUS | MAL‡ | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | TUR | GBR | GER | HUN | EUR | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | BRA | ABU | 153.5 | 2nd | |
| Sebastian Vettel | 13† | 15 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Ret | 3 | 1 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Mark Webber | 12 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 17 | 1 | 2 |
† Driver failed to finish, but was classified as they had completed >90% of the race distance.
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance completed.
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