Alex Roache got to go behind the scenes at the Red Bull Racing Factory before heading over to the Red Bull Energy Station at Silverstone to watch Webber and Vettel practice before the big weekend. Check out his great report and top photos from the day...
What do you get if you put a MotoGP rider, a freestyle skier and a snowboarder in the same room? Well, if it’s a room at the Red Bull Racing factory and it happens to be British Grand Prix weekend, you have ingredients for an exclusive peak behind the scenes with F1’s most exciting and dynamic team.
I joined MotoGP-winner Scott Redding, pro freestylist Paddy Graham and World Cup Half-pipe star Ben Kilner – all British Red Bull ambassadors – for a tour around the operation’s cutting edge Technology Centre in Milton Keynes. If this was the day’s aperitif, the starter would be a visit to the pit garage at Silverstone (just half an hour away) and my main course, as Red Bull Reporter, would be a rendezvous with Aussie F1 ace Mark Webber.
Pulling up outside the Red Bull Racing factory, you’re greeted with a striking image. The iconic crimson bovine leaping across a yellow sun is emblazoned across an enormous navy fascia running the length of the building. Morning light glints of stylish cyan-tinted windows by a huge signboard which leaves you with no doubt as to where you are. I met with my fellow guests in the reception area, where an early incarnation Red Bull Racing F1 machine hangs impressively from the wall, and we were guided through into the depths of the building.
The factory is actually split across three on-site facilities: the main unit, the machine shop and the race car assembly stage, with almost 600 employees working across each sector. The main unit houses the vast and spacious drawing office, which was our first stop on the tour. This is the brains behind the operation, where the clever people work their magic – including chief technical officer Adrian Newey, the man responsible for conceiving numerous championship-winning F1 cars over the years. Design ideas are sent through to the adjacent model shop for scale components to be produced with breathtaking precision – the laser equipment used is capable of dividing a strand of hair ten times lengthways!
On the way out of the main building I had a chance to watch one of the ops room engineers at work. These guys – Red Bull Racing’s “Mission Control” – have live data feeds from the car as it races around the circuit, whether it’s just down the road at Silverstone or across the other side of the globe in Australia. Even as I looked on, modifications were being made to a three-dimensional CAD model of Sebastian Vettel’s front wing, from information gathered during the previous hour’s practice session. I was assured that the changes would buy the team at least one thousandth of a second for qualifying. That’s three-hundred times faster than you can blink!
Time was pressing as we embarked on a whistle-stop tour of the second and third buildings. The machine shop is where the race cars begin their proper transformation from paper to reality, but much of it was off-limits this weekend (especially to nosey reporters with flashy cameras). This is where advanced milling machines cut and mould carbon-fibre components before they’re baked rigid in searing, high-pressure autoclaves. Once cooled, the shaped element is ten times stronger than steel and a fraction of the weight – only a lick of paint stands in the way of it becoming a fully-fledged feature of the race car.
The Red Bull Racing livery is a favourite up and down the pitlane, with bold, sweeping lines and vibrant colours reflecting the brand’s sexy, snazzy image. At the 2007 British Grand Prix, the cars ran with unique paint schemes – photo montages of fans who had donated money to the team’s adopted charity, Wings for Life. This Red Bull reporter was delighted to find his own ugly mug grinning from the nosecone of Mark Webber’s RB3 race machine, which now sits on display in the final building on the factory tour.
And with that, we were whisked off to the Silverstone circuit to catch the on-track action and soak up the atmosphere in the pit and paddock. The half-hour journey afforded just enough time to gauge the thoughts of my fellow guests, the Red Bull ambassadors. Evidently the multi-million pound operation had made an impression on the young athletes: “The most I usually spend on a snowboard is seven-hundred quid,” commented Kilner. “And that’s made of high-tech hardwood and fibreglass.” Fellow freestylist Graham nods in agreement, adding: “And maybe another hundred pounds for some polyurethane goggles. But it really puts it into perspective seeing how much money goes into F1.” Even MotoGP star Redding was moved to suggest that the attention to detail and level of sophistication at the factory put his sport somewhat in the shade.
However, I didn’t suspect for a moment that any of them would swap their lifestyles for that of a Grand Prix driver. Glamorous as the latter may be, these guys clearly did plenty of exotic jet-setting of their own. Redding was heading out this week to compete at Assen in the Netherlands, while Kilner was off to train for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Graham was taking some time out to practice at Saas-Fee in Switzerland. It’s a hard life!
Before I knew it we were standing in the Silverstone paddock, with the spectacular Red Bull Energy Station towering up on one side and the team’s “Tree House” facility on the other. The latter is particularly innovative; a makeshift building suspended over the motorhomes and capable of accommodating a hundred people (mostly engineers and technical staff). We were guided underneath its complex structure, emerging into the rear of the Red Bull Racing pit garage where the cars were firing up for the day’s second bout of action.
If there is one thing television simply cannot convey about Grand Prix racing, it’s the noise. The pure, harmonic clamour of the 2.4-litre Renault V8 in the back of the RB5 is enough to shake your fillings loose. Luckily, I don’t have any fillings so I was quite content to stand at the back of the garage grinning like a Cheshire cat as Messrs Webber and Vettel blasted from their bays and took to the track to fire their first warning shots to championship leaders Brawn GP. It didn’t take them long; first and second by the end of the session, and six-tenths clear of the next quickest car.
It seemed an opportune moment to get the thoughts of test and reserve driver Brendon Hartley, who I found looking on as his team-mates rolled back into the garage amid the engineers’ controlled frenzy of activity. The New Zealander seems to have found himself in the right place at the right time.
“For sure I’m in the best team in Red Bull,” enthused Hartley, who with his shoulder-length straight blonde hair and laid-back style would look more at home surfing waves in the Tasman Sea. “And I’m learning a lot from being at the races.” The Red Bull Junior Team graduate, however, is enduring a tough season in the World Series by Renault. “I set the fastest lap in Monaco, and was challenging for the lead in Budapest, but we hit problems in both races. It’s the story of my season!” And how does he rate his chances of racing behind the wheel of an F1 car this season? “I don’t have high hopes of being in the car. I’m just absorbing the experience, as it’s only going to make me stronger.”
Crossing back over the paddock, I made my way into the Red Bull Energy Station. Never mind the race cars; this building is impressive enough as a feat of engineering. Erected in less than 24 hours – and dismantled just as quickly – the team’s mobile headquarters has a very permanent feel to it, not to mention an extremely hospitable atmosphere. Unlike many teams, Red Bull Racing welcomes anyone and everyone into its temporary paddock home, explaining friendly buzz as you walk through the door. Three storeys comprise a ground-floor café and restaurant, first-floor bar and, for some relative peace and quiet, a rooftop viewing area.
However, much as I would have enjoyed admiring the Northamptonshire countryside, I had an important meeting with a certain F1 star from down under. Sitting opposite me coolly tucking into a bowl of salad, you would never have guessed that ten minutes earlier Mark Webber had been flying around Copse corner at 180mph with 5Gs of lateral force wrenching at his neck. Of course, the big story of the weekend was of two motorsport bodies doing some of their own wrenching at each others’ necks: FOTA and the FIA, and their ongoing dispute over the future of the sport. Where do the drivers stand in this political mess?
“All the drivers – including myself – support FOTA’s actions,” claimed Webber. “Although it’s a real shame a solution couldn’t have been found.” And if there is a breakaway series? “Well, if the best drivers and the best teams are there, that’s what everyone loves to see. It could be called GP thirty-six and people would still watch it.”
The straight-talking Aussie has a knack for cutting through the fog of circumstance to offer a sensible view on a thorny subject. But back to on-track events, with the RB5’s acknowledged wet-weather superiority over its rivals, is he hoping the English weather will live up to its reputation and soak Silverstone over the weekend?
“No, not at all. We’ve always been confident that at some point we’re going to challenge the Brawns. We have a new nose this weekend, and on top of the nose we have some small new bits on the car like a change to the engine cooling system, and the result today suggests the changes are working. But the Brawns are still going to be quick. They’ve had us covered for most of the year so far and we know they’re right up there in all conditions. And don’t underestimate some of the other teams either.”
So Red Bull Racing is looking over its shoulder at Ferrari?
“We are not looking backwards; we are looking forwards to ourselves. At this level you never know who can come up and do a very good job. So far we’ve done a good job because we were focusing on ourselves and understand what we have to do to make the car quicker. And you can be sure that we are continuing to do so.”
Webber is clearly confident in his team and the car they have given him, but he’s been in this business too long to get carried away with predictions.
“The weekend is young. All is well today, but we could be sitting here pissed off tomorrow.”
Ironically, the one prediction he did make may have been more accurate than he anticipated. In qualifying he was pipped to pole position by team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and even lost out to Rubens Barrichello when Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari baulked his final flying lap. The race was a similarly frustrating affair, stuck as he was behind the Brawn GP car and left to watch Vettel romp off to a crushing victory.
Webber’s second place, however, sealed a dream result for Red Bull Racing, and I was certainly cheering them on. Seeing the factory on the Friday, before witnessing how behind the scenes work can come to fruition over the course of a Grand Prix weekend represented the icing on the cake for my Red Bull Reporter F1 assignment. It was a fantastic experience and a unique insight into the pinnacle of world motorsport, and is something which will stay with me for a very long time.
Alex Roache
View Alex's photographs from the day at www.redbullreporter.com
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