F1 Mid-Season Review: Red Bull - Finger pointing is no answer

The former dominant World Champions of 2010-13 spent much of the first half of the season in a war of words with their engine supplier, Renault. An unreliable and heavily underpowered unit seemed to be the RB11’s largest fault, with Daniil Kvyat not even making it onto the grid for his Red Bull debut, and both cars finishing behind the junior Toro Rosso cars at the following race in Malaysia.

While Daniel Ricciardo managed to consistently score points finishes, his team mate was struggling to get to grips with his new motor, with two DNFs in the first 3 races not helping his challenge. But outpacing the Australian in Monaco and calling the strategy right in a wet Silverstone race has helped to set the record straight.

A breakthrough result in Monaco with both cars in the top 5 proved that the car’s chassis and aerodynamics were up to Red Bull’s usual standards, but the team later admitted that the changes in floor regulations for this year have hit them harder than other teams, and that they were partially to blame for their lack of pace.

However, the Renault power unit was still proving to be the main issue, with the team scoring just 3 points in the next two races in Canada and Austria – both of which are power circuits. But an astonishing double podium finish at the drama-filled Hungarian Grand Prix has given the team hope that at the more downforce dependent circuits, such as Singapore and Japan, they can be competitive. However, the team must wait patiently until Renault are up to speed on their engine before they can return to their former glory.

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