Red Bull Racing had a lot to celebrate last year, seeing Sebastian Vettel winning the Formula One drivers’ title for the first time and setting numerous records in the process.
Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing’s other driver, came third in the standings behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and the constructors’ title went to the high-energy drinks company too. They really did have wings in 2010.
Things have revved up incredibly quickly for Red Bull since their entry into F1, as a constructor, only seven years ago, which makes the narrative particularly interesting for the media.
So getting a tour around the Red Bull Racing factory in the United Kingdom is a unique experience and an hour of Red Bull Racing’s celebrated engineer Steve Nevey’s time is something to treasure. He is the Relationship Manager for technical partnerships at the base in Milton Keynes, 50 miles north of London.
According to Nevey, the Red Bull Racing blueprint is not by chance: “It’s all about people. You can spend money on material things but it’s important to equip good people with the right tools. That’s how it happens; and then you have the chance to succeed at the highest level – and that’s what we’ve enjoyed.”
Christian Horner is the Team Principal and Dietrich Mateschitz the Red Bull owner. Between them they have locked down a winning formula.
Red Bull bought the Jaguar F1 team at the end of 2004, which was the start of the spectacular rise.
“It’s been an experience but we still needed some magical ingredients for us to elevate ourselves to claim the 2010 World Championship.
“We’re leading this year’s Championship, but are facing stiff competition from McLaren, driven by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton and the Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa.”
There are 525 employees at the Red Bull Racing factory, covering every aspect of technology, design, manufacturing, research and development.
Nevey was originally an engineer designing submarines in the Seventies and Eighties. He taught engineering for a while at the University of Warwick, near his home in the Midlands, which is close to Coventry, before getting into motor racing with the Footwork Arrows as a design engineer.
“Formula One is about developing your own car,” Nevey says. “The rules state that you have to develop your own intellectual property. It’s not a racing series where you can just buy a car and win races. You have to develop your own car and that’s the thing that interests most of us.
“You also have to manufacture your own car, although you can out-source some of it. That’s why we have a Constructors’ Championship as well.”
Nevey had the pleasure of working in Jamaica and Trinidad, loved the experience and would welcome a chance to visit the small but incredibly intense F1 hard-core fans in the Cayman Islands led by Andreas ‘Zulu’ Kettner, the Red Bull distributor based in George Town.
Zulu campaigned to get this exclusive factory tour and he even phones during the interview to ensure things are in top gear.
“In 2006 I had the great pleasure of delivering, with my Red Bull colleagues, a lecture in Kingston,” says Nevey. “Then I went across to Port of Spain to lecture again. There were an awful lot of very keen racers there from lots of racing disciplines. It was great and I felt very privileged.
“The sense I got was that it was a whole load of good friends. To the Cayman-based Red Bull Racing fans, I just say keep supporting us. We’re the cool and fun brand with the fun team and if anybody is going to enjoy their success, we are, so keep supporting us and enjoy the ride.”
Red Bull Racing seemed to have lost their winning momentum a little, but they returned to form last week as Vettel continued to open a seemingly unassailable championship lead. Vettel is now 92 points ahead of second placed Webber with only 175 remaining in the final seven races. In the Constructors’ competition, Red Bull Racing are well ahead, unlike last year where it was closer at this stage in the Championship.
“Last year it went down to the wire and we didn’t win the Constructors’ title until the penultimate race in Brazil and Sebastian, having not led the Drivers’ Championship at all throughout the season won it on the last race.
“It was a fantastic achievement. He was the youngest driver to win the championship along with the youngest to win a race, step on the podium, score a point, take a pole position…
“He’s got a little way to go but he’s had a good season so far. As we predicted, our friends at McLaren and Ferrari have done a fantastic job of turning their seasons around by rapidly developing their cars.
“It’s not just about the drivers racing around the track, it’s about designers and engineers trying to develop their cars faster than the other teams. And we know that McLaren and Ferrari are extremely good at this.
“We always expect them to be hot on our heels, and, of course they are. We’ve got a good lead and we’re currently looking very good but there is still a long way to go.”
Red Bull Racing’s brilliance with the high standard of their cars is reflected in the fact that they were 103 points ahead of McLaren in the Constructors’ race before the Belgium grand prix. Nevey is not taking anything for granted. “There is still a long way to go and until it is mathematically impossible for the others to catch us we’ll just remain cautious and pushing on the best we can.
“The Constructors’ competition is still extremely interesting because if there is a race where neither of our drivers finish and McLaren, for example, got a first and second, it could bring them an awful lot closer to us.”
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