Red Bull Flying Without Wings

Congratulations to Red Bull Racing who in only their seventh season have won the Formula One constructors championship. Whilst this relatively new team taking on the might of McLaren and Ferrari and leaving them in the dust, as well as the established teams of Renault, Mercedes and Williams it is hardly a shock. The Adrian Newey designed car has been the fastest in Formula One for the last two seasons. 

In 2009 they had four, one-two finishes and another two race victories. Red Bull missed out on the Constructers title last year to Brawn by 18.5 points a deficit they would have easily overcome had it not been for the five retirements and continual engine problems the cars suffered from.

This year the RB6 has been even faster, showing a level of superiority in their car over the other teams unseen in Formula One since the Ferrari cars of the early 2000s. Of the 18 races so far this season Red Bull have had pole positions in 14 of them. Only half of these pole positions have led to a Red Bull victory and it was only going to be the Red Bull’s themselves who again would prevent them winning the constructors championship. Despite the best attempts of both the drivers, the management and the tendency of the car to break Red Bull have managed to succeed this season. 

Helped by McLaren having a much slower car, that every single update it has had put on it failing to eat into the huge speed gap they have between them and the Red Bulls, and by Ferrari only allowing Alonso to score points for fear that any success for Massa would lead to the Spaniard throwing his toys out of the pram, Red Bull’s success was no surprise.

But as I watched the coverage of the aftermath of the Brazilian Grand Prix last Sunday I couldn’t shake the feeling that although the constructors is important, everyone was looking forward to this Sunday in Abu Dhabi where the drivers title will be decided. The title that everyone in Formula One wants to win regardless of whether they are actually driving the car or not and despite all their clear advantages over their rivals this season, Red Bull could still end up with neither of their drivers winning the drivers title. 

And if this happens the Constructors title will hold very little consolation in the face of the fact that either Red Bull driver should have had this title won long before Formula One touched down in the deserts of Abu Dhabi.