.jpg) Mark Webber driving the RB3 at the2007 Malaysian Grand Prix | |||||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Red Bull | ||||||||||
| Designers | Adrian Newey(Chief Technical Officer) Mark Smith(Technical Director) Rob Marshall(Chief Designer) Andrew Green(Head of R&D) Peter Prodromou(Head of Aerodynamics) Dan Fallows(Chief Aerodynamicist) | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | RB2 | ||||||||||
| Successor | RB4 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Carbon-fibre and honeycombcompositemonocoque | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Twin-keeldouble wishbone,pushrod activatedtorsion bar springing. | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Double wishbone,pushrod activatedtorsion bar springing. | ||||||||||
| Engine | RenaultRS27 2.4 LV8,naturally aspirated,mid-engine,longitudinally-mounted | ||||||||||
| Transmission | Red Bull Technology 7-speed hydraulic power-shift | ||||||||||
| Power | >750 hp @ 19,000 rpm[1] | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Elf | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | Red Bull Racing | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 14. David Coulthard15.  Mark Webber | ||||||||||
| Debut | 2007 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Last event | 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
TheRed Bull Racing RB3 is aFormula One racing car produced byRed Bull Racing for the2007 season. It was the team's firstAdrian Newey-designed car and used customerRenault RS27 engines, after the team's contract withFerrari was transferred to the Toro Rosso team.
This was the first non-Enstone basedFormula One car to utilize full worksRenault engines since theWilliams FW19 in 1997.
Controversy surrounded the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams during the 2007 launch season as a row over customer cars erupted. BothWilliams andSpyker claimed that the cars of the two teams were identical, having been designed byRed Bull Technology, a third-party subsidiary of theRed Bull parent company. Thus, the teams themselves did not design their respective cars themselves, which Williams and Spyker believed was a breach of F1'sConcorde Agreement. TheFIA however declared that the cars were legal for 2007.Gerhard Berger,Christian Horner and otherToro Rosso andRed Bull Racing staff have also stated that they had their legal representatives confirm that the cars they were running were legal and that the operations they had set up (two teams running the same chassis, designed by Red Bull Technology) were legal.[citation needed]
The car, in the hands of bothMark Webber andDavid Coulthard, is seen to have point-scoring pace, highlighted by Webber's series of top-ten qualifying positions and Coulthard running fastest in the pre-race Barcelona testing.[2] The design is distinctlyAdrian Newey, bearing a resemblance to past cars such as the 2005 McLaren MP4-20. However, like the McLaren, poor reliability and mechanical problems have hampered the drivers on numerous occasions. Problems included things as trivial as faulty brake pedals and[3] notoriously jamming fuel-flaps. However, the most pressing reliability issue was the introduction of a seamless-shift gearbox to the car, which resulted in numerous race retirements for both Mark Webber and David Coulthard, such as at the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix respectively.[4]
Comments made throughout the season stated clearly that the car had much potential, despite David Coulthard's distaste of the word.[5] Towards the middle of the season, after being frustrated by continuous retirements at the expense of championship points, team principalChristian Horner put into place a strict and thorough method to deal with and eradicate any mechanical unreliability,[6] which along with the appointment ofGeoff Willis (formerly of the Williams and BAR/Honda teams), was expected to provide better results in the 2008 season.
The car's best result was in the hands of Mark Webber, when he scored a podium in changeable conditions at the2007 European Grand Prix. It scored points on only two other occasions for Webber, 7th in both theUnited States andBelgian Grand Prix, despite his consistent fast qualifying, starting in the top 11 on eleven occasions. Coulthard was more successful, scoring points at four races, including a 4th place at theJapanese Grand Prix, a race at which Mark Webber was running in second before he was hit from behind bySebastian Vettel, driving Red Bull's sisterToro Rosso car, under the safety car, following a bunch up caused by race leaderLewis Hamilton.
At theBritish Grand Prix, the RB3s sported alivery of fan-submittedimages as part of a one-off event for thecharityWings for Life. More than 30,000 fans pledged money and uploaded images to the team's website, and each fan has selected a spot on either car to have their image placed. The goal was to raise€1 million.[7]
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(key)
| Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Red Bull Racing | RenaultV8 | B | AUS | MAL | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | USA | FRA | GBR | EUR | HUN | TUR | ITA | BEL | JPN | CHN | BRA | 24 | 5th | |
| David Coulthard | Ret | Ret | Ret | 5 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 13 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
| Mark Webber | 13 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 7 | 12 | Ret | 3 | 9 | Ret | 9 | 7 | Ret | 10 | Ret |
