Red Bull launchposted in F103 | 02 | 2013
RED BULL LIFTED the wraps on the car — the Renault-powered RB9 – it believes will deliver its fourth straight Formula One World Championship double (see more official photos of the new Red Bull RB9).
"It's obviously one thing to look back on what we have achieved as a team, but I feel it all starts again from zero," triple world champ Sebastien Vettel said at today's launch.
"It will be a long year again, a very tough challenge waiting for all of us.
"I'm looking forward to that and not thinking about what happened in the last year. People expect something of us, but more than that we expect ourselves to do well."
The car is again designed by F1 guru Adrian Newey, who admitted at the end of last year it was getting harder and harder to find gains for the 2013 car given the rules stability.
"It is increasingly difficult because there are no real regulations changes compared to this year and it will be the fifth season since the 2009 rule changes," Newey explained.
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"The field is converging and you can see how competitive it is in the fact that we had eight different winners this year."
And he explained the 2013 racer is an evolution of last year-s all-conquering Red Bull.
"It's an evolutionary car," Newey continued. "There were no big regulation changes over the winter.
"The most significant change is not the regulations, it's the new Pirelli tyres. We had a quick test in P1 in Brazil but it was very hot and on a green track and in truth we didn't learn a lot.
"It's really been a case of refining the RB8. There are no huge changes. It's very much an evolutionary car. All the principles the same as last year.
"The devil has very much been in the detail with this car. We've tidied up some bits that we felt could be improved on. Development is now the key through the year."
The car will make its on-track debut at Jerez this week in the hands of Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber.
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Jim McGill