2013 Car Reveal & Winter Testing Kickoff

That Mercedes looks pretty mean.

honestly, the bear isn't half bad 🙏

Was he actually out of his mind?

I don't necessarily see this addition of purple as a violation of the corporate identity, given how exceptionally recognizable the branding remains regardless. I was previously under the impression that the marketing specialists—who are undoubtedly experts, much like the creative minds over at Red Bull—were planning to integrate these new hues into one of their product lines...

William Bennett53 said:I don't necessarily see this addition of purple as a violation of the corporate identity, given how exceptionally recognizable the branding remains regardless. I was previously under the impression that the marketing specialists—who are undoubtedly experts, much like the creative minds over at Red Bull—were planning to integrate these new hues into one of their product lines...

Look, they definitely know their marketing. And honestly? Forcing the kid to swap helmets like he's changing socks only helps Red Bull. It just kills Vettel's personal brand—and if Vettel loses his edge, Red Bull wins.

When you see a red and white car with a yellow helmet—you think Senna!

But when you see a blue car with a yellow nose—you aren't thinking "Vettel," you're thinking "Red Bull!!!"

Vettel desperately needs a marketing guru—someone to actually peel him away from this Red Bull identity he's totally drowning in.

There goes Luke 🙂

William Bennett53 said:I don't necessarily see this addition of purple as a violation of the corporate identity, given how exceptionally recognizable the branding remains regardless. I was previously under the impression that the marketing specialists—who are undoubtedly experts, much like the creative minds over at Red Bull—were planning to integrate these new hues into one of their product lines...

Wait, wasn't that purple added because of Infiniti?

And has anyone else noticed how Jaguar basically turned into Renault? You've got Dietrich buying Jaguar, then Infiniti—which is part of the Renault-Nissan group, essentially Renault—steps into RB, and suddenly it's all "Infiniti Red Bull Racing," even though they're running Renault engines. Meanwhile, the Renault that grew out of Toleman and Benetton sold most of its shares to the Genii Group and became something like Lotus—totally disconnected from the actual Lotus brand. Man, you really have to love the word games these massive corporations play. So, we either have two Renaults or none at all. I'm honestly lost at this point.🤷

shadowstag10 said:honestly, the bear isn't half bad 🙏

They ran a BlackBerry ad. 😁
I know you aren't supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth,
but you could easily read into this as them saying they won't last much longer.

Nathan Jones98 said:Wait, wasn't that purple added because of Infiniti?

And has anyone else noticed how Jaguar basically turned into Renault? You've got Dietrich buying Jaguar, then Infiniti—which is part of the Renault-Nissan group, essentially Renault—steps into RB, and suddenly it's all "Infiniti Red Bull Racing," even though they're running Renault engines. Meanwhile, the Renault that grew out of Toleman and Benetton sold most of its shares to the Genii Group and became something like Lotus—totally disconnected from the actual Lotus brand. Man, you really have to love the word games these massive corporations play. So, we either have two Renaults or none at all. I'm honestly lost at this point.🤷

Honestly, just follow the home bases. Look at Hinwil or Enstone—you'll see who actually owns those facilities and what kind of magic they're cooking up under the hood.

So, I'd just call the whole Lotus/Renault/Benetton/Toleman crew "the Enstone team."

And the Sauber/BMW/Sauber squad would be "the Hinwil team."

No confusion there—that's the only thing that stays constant, or at least changes once in a blue moon.

I’ve been scrolling through a rival forum, and apparently, Ferrari is gearing up to roll out a new exhaust system and redesigned sidepods, though they haven't hit the track for testing just yet...
It’s a bit unsettling, honestly. I can't help but worry we’ll show up to the season opener with a car that fails to deliver on its race simulations—exactly the kind of headache we dealt with last year.

Raymond Anderson4 said:I’ve been scrolling through a rival forum, and apparently, Ferrari is gearing up to roll out a new exhaust system and redesigned sidepods, though they haven't hit the track for testing just yet...
It’s a bit unsettling, honestly. I can't help but worry we’ll show up to the season opener with a car that fails to deliver on its race simulations—exactly the kind of headache we dealt with last year.

Is this that same forum where we all get threatened by some absolute clown acting like he’s the god of life and death?

God, are we seriously gonna have to listen to his "expert" takes during Friday practice again? —if so, I might just go get my eardrums surgically removed right now.

I wasn't talking about GP1. I meant Autosport. They’re basically our sworn rivals at this point.

Raymond Anderson4 said:I’ve been scrolling through a rival forum, and apparently, Ferrari is gearing up to roll out a new exhaust system and redesigned sidepods, though they haven't hit the track for testing just yet...
It’s a bit unsettling, honestly. I can't help but worry we’ll show up to the season opener with a car that fails to deliver on its race simulations—exactly the kind of headache we dealt with last year.

Man, I'd love it if they actually finished those upgrades by the time we hit the first test in Austin...
because if they start blowing floors or whatever else goes sideways again...

And here we have the latest machine from the STR camp:

Raymond Anderson4 said:I’ve been scrolling through a rival forum, and apparently, Ferrari is gearing up to roll out a new exhaust system and redesigned sidepods, though they haven't hit the track for testing just yet...
It’s a bit unsettling, honestly. I can't help but worry we’ll show up to the season opener with a car that fails to deliver on its race simulations—exactly the kind of headache we dealt with last year.

Goodness, honestly. 🤦 It really makes you wonder—do they honestly have to constantly reinvent themselves or scramble for new gimmicks just to keep pace with the competition? 🙂
What a total disaster. Are we officially entering panic mode yet? 🙂

🤦

It’s like that classic Italian design flaw where everything is just slightly backward, but honestly, they’ve been doing it that way for so long now that they can’t exactly "break character," right? 🙂

Oh, please; they’ve completely lost the plot. Whether you call it a stumble or a total collapse, they haven't touched a championship title in years. 🙂
Fernando, man, what on earth were you thinking!? 🤦

It won't be that simple for them to climb out of this hole. 🙂

Look, even if the RB9 doesn't look drastically different from the RB8, I can see something special under the hood here—something that’s going to be a nightmare for anyone else to replicate...
Honestly, this car looks more dominant than any Red Bull we've seen yet. If my gut is right, we're looking at an incredibly boring season ahead... just another fourth title handed to them solely because their car is on another level. 😢

fadedwalker18 said:Goodness, honestly. 🤦 It really makes you wonder—do they honestly have to constantly reinvent themselves or scramble for new gimmicks just to keep pace with the competition? 🙂
What a total disaster. Are we officially entering panic mode yet? 🙂

🤦

You can read the full breakdown here.
http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/...be-a-contender
A quick excerpt from the article:
Tombazis-

"The initial spec car used for the first test didn't see much wind tunnel time since we finalized it right after the season ended—we were still grinding away on the F2012 back then. That said, I'm confident we'll have a much more competitive package ready by the third test and the opening race."

stormybadger8 said:Look, even if the RB9 doesn't look drastically different from the RB8, I can see something special under the hood here—something that’s going to be a nightmare for anyone else to replicate...
Honestly, this car looks more dominant than any Red Bull we've seen yet. If my gut is right, we're looking at an incredibly boring season ahead... just another fourth title handed to them solely because their car is on another level. 😢

We'll see. It's entirely possible McLaren put together a seriously impressive car, considering they held a slight edge over Red Bull at the end of last season. It’s unlikely they're significantly behind Red Bull in terms of pure pace now.
The real issue is that McLaren doesn't have a Lewis Hamilton who can pull off those legendary drives like he did in Austin and fight Sebastian Vettel for the win.
Drivers like Jenson and Sergio just aren't built that way. They don't possess that same level of quality or the ability to shut out the competition the way Lewis did in Abu Dhabi—you know, those weekends where they just dominate everyone.