Feeling Bullish!

Last year was a breakthrough for the Red Bull team; from the embarrassment of having their own junior team (Toro Rosso) beat them in 2008, to runners-up in the championship in '09. Not only this, they were runners-up despite not having a fully utilised double diffuser (their design had been compromised due to their unique pull-rod suspension system). So, surely a team that finished the year as the clear best (winning the final 3 races at a canter) would be the favourite going into this year - especially with design guru Adrian Newey having time to design the car around the diffuser. Maybe, but with the Chinese zodiac moving from Ox to Tiger, will fortune favour the Bull quite so much? Mercedes money and McLaren and Ferrari resurgence indicate it won't be easy to pick up where they left off.

It's funny, all of the teams have been taking obvious inspiration from the Red Bull RB5 from last year - stealing aspects like the nose 'humps' or shark-fin engine cover, but the RB6 (revealed in Jerez today) looks like what you would expect to get if you bred the newest Ferrari and McLaren together.

The high, flat nose is very reminiscent of the McLaren - as is the level of development and complexity in the front wing design. The shark-fin too is very McLaren-esque; attaching to the rear wing. However, the sidepod area is like the Ferrari; sleek and smooth as if the team has gone for the same long and narrow solution to accommodating the larger fuel tank.

This car certainly looks like it should be quick out of the box; it seems an extremely satisfactory compromise between simple and beautiful (Ferrari) and ultra advanced (McLaren). There are just a few caveats though. The first thing is that the team was forced to stick with the Renault engine (potentially underpowered) rather than changing to Mercedes (proven) because McLaren wouldn't let Mercedes supply any more competitors - Red Bull were the unlucky party caught in the middle of the divorce arguments between the two companies. Secondly, and more importantly - if the previous car didn't have an optimised diffuser then it is possible that this car has a less sophisticated version as it has to make up for the development time that teams (especially Mercedes) has had. Finally, the push-rod suspension system was part of what made the previous car so quick; sacrificing that for a diffuser could alter the performance in unforeseen ways.

Looks are generally a good way to determine how well a car is going to do - there has never been an ugly champion nor a beautiful loser. This car is most certainly a beautiful evolution and so I would expect the team to finish in the top 3 come the season's end.

A couple of years ago, if you had said Red Bull for the championship - people would have replied with the old "pigs might fly"  - but it really might happen. After all, Red Bull gives you wings....

(Sorry, that was terrible).