Red Bull to Develop Car Until the End

Red Bull's design director Adrian Newey insisted that he will focus completely on the development of the RB5 until the very end of the season. Considering that the Milton Keyned based team is currently in the 2009 title contention for both drivers and manufacturers, they cannot let go of their 2009 challenger and switch to next year's campaign.

“At the moment, it seems likely that Red Bull Racing will have to persevere with development of this year's car right to the end of the season if it is in the fight for both Titles,” said Newey.

Unlike last year, when the 2008 cars had nothing common whatsoever with their 2009 successors – due to the revised aerodynamics, KERS introduction and slick tires – the 2010 RB6 will be heavily based on this year's car. This means the RB5 should be updated constantly, in order to offer the team something to work with during the course of next winter.

“It's a problem we face every year. Last year, research carried out on RB4 for the balance of last season had no application to the 2009 car because of the regulation change. That is not the case this year; development parts we find for RB5 will be applied to RB6 and possibly even vice versa as we start to research RB6,” added the Brit.

His comments come in a time when most F1 teams have publicly announced a switch in development for the 2010 season. Ferrari were the only ones who made it official – through the voice of team principal Stefano Domenicali – while McLaren, BMW and Red Bull have been urged by their own drivers to start focusing on their 2010 programmes.