Red Bull Still Frustrated with Engine Disadvantage

Although Adrian Newey's designed Red Bull RB6 was by far the fastest racer of 2010, one could still argue that high-speed circuits were never quite its thing. And that's because the car was, and will continue to be, powered by a Renault V8, which many admit is not as powerful as its Mercedes or Ferrari counterparts.

Having said that, it's a well-known fact that Red Bull have been complaining about their engine for quite some time and argued that this is an area where the Milton Keynes based team had to suffer in 2010.

With the engine freeze decided by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) some years back, everybody pretty much knows that some manufacturers did not stop from developing their engines right away. Of course, nobody admits it. At the time of the freeze, one certain fact indicated that some manufacturers benefit from more powerful engines than others. The ruling body tried to fix that, allowing some constructors like Honda and Renault to bring updates to their units in order to reach an equal performance level to their rivals.

Despite their totally dominant year in 2010, Red Bull still feel like their in disadvantage over this engine thing, with Newey being the first to call it once again.

“The engine freeze is certainly a big problem for us. We know that one or two other engines have got a frozen-in advantage and I very much hope that we can redress that, because as long as it stays that way, there is no right of reply,” said Newey, according to Autosport.

Needless to say, in order for the FIA to change the engine freeze rules, it would have to consult with the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) first. On the other hand, in order for the FOTA to agree on a rule chance, all 13 teams part of it would have to agree. And here is where it gets tricky, as Newey believes there is at least one team that will most definitely not agree to such a rule change. We'll go right ahead and assume he's talking about Mercedes (the fans know why).

“One engine manufacturer who is definitely out ahead seems to be completely unwilling to enter into negotiations to allow a little bit more equality.”

Additionally, Newey admitted that hadn't it been for the aerodynamic revamp decided upon by the FIA in recent years, Red Bull would have continued to struggle in the midfield, as the former F1 rulers McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari would have continued to dominate the championship in dominant fashion.

“I think certainly what gave us a break at the start of last year was the big regulation change, because where we had got to with very stable regulations, from really the early 1990s, or even the early 1980s, to 2008, was really an iteration game and a question of resources, and our resources weren't as much as some of our rivals and still aren't,” concluded Newey.