NSSN Correspondent

Red Bull

JEREZ, Spain — Last year’s Red Bull Renault RB3 was often quick and too often unreliable. The team worked hard to make sure the RB4 is a more consistent car from both the speed and reliable angles.
“Our biggest problem in terms of points lost in 2007 was reliability,” chief technical officer Adrian Newey said at the launch of the new car here at Jerez on Jan. 16.
“That is the thing we need to get on top of because we threw away so many points last year we could have finished at least one, maybe two, places higher in the constructors. So that has been a big focus, and it is something that [technical director] Geoff [Willis] has really embraced and has been working very hard on. That has been fantastic because it is certainly not my strong point.”
Next, Red Bull focused on performance.
“There are some aspects of the car performance wise that we were not happy with,” Newey said, “and which we have tried to improve.”
The concept of the RB3 was basically sound, and therefore the RB4 is an evolution of the 2007 car.
“I don’t think that there are hardly any common carry-over parts, but the philosophy and the concept and principle of the car is the same,” Newey explained. “It has given us the opportunity to tidy the car up very much compared to RB3 by evolving a concept we already have.”
As the wheelbase of the RB3 had already been pushed to the outer limits, it was not increased in the RB4.
Newey admitted to that the pre-ballasted weight distribution has been changed, but would not say if it had been moved forward or backward. The traction control and engine braking bans created design changes.
“We have worked on the stability,” Newey said. “The loss of the aids, particularly in [corner] entry, has meant that we need a more stable platform aerodynamically and mechanically. So we put work into that.”
Some of the aerodynamic bits, including the front bridge wing, are carryovers from the last version of the RB3. The nose of the RB4 is a bit shorter.
“With the advent of the circle bridge wing across the top, the shorter nose makes sense,” Newey said. “But it is not a big change. Noses are one of those things where a huge visual change makes very little aerodynamic difference.”
This is the second Red Bull designed by Newey. Willis was not involved in the actual designing but instead worked to eliminate reliability woes and other faults throughout the entire designing and building process.

Sauber

After its solidly successful 2007 season, BMW Sauber is targeting its first win in 2008.
“We’re setting our sights high,” BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said at the launch of the new F1.08 in Munich Jan. 14, “and we’ll have to make further improvements in all areas to achieve what we want to. However, the past two years have instilled confidence within the team. We met our goals in both 2006 and 2007.
“It will certainly be difficult [to win] because the two teams in front of us are the strongest and most experienced and will certainly do a big leap over the winter as well. Since we made big progress in the first two years, I am really confident we can do it again and close the gap.”
The F1.08 is what technical director Willy Rampf calls an “evolutionary new development” of the F1.07. Because last year’s car had few faults, the engineers were able to concentrate on developing the 2008.
A huge front wing visually dominates the car, but the nose itself has been slimmed down as has the rear  bodywork that features high-mounted winglets on the airbox.
“With this front wing the car is less sensitive to steering, cornering and side winds,” Rampf explained. “The turning vane area has been optimised to create higher downforce levels for the same drag. The sidepod area and the engine cover is even lower than on last year’s car.
“We tried to reduce the volume of the engine cover to have a better airflow to the rear wing, which gives us more stability and also higher downforce levels.”
Like most of the new cars, the F1.08 features front and rear wheel covers similar to those used by Ferrari last year.
The F1.08 has new front axle kinematics to improve the feedback for the driver because, Rampf said, the driver has to correct the car more often and more precisely because of the lack of traction control. The rear suspension is also completely new now that electronic engine braking is illegal.
“We tried to maximize the grip and take away the peakiness of the handling,” Rampf said, “so that if the car is a bit unstable the driver doesn’t lose the car. It’s easier to control it and bring it back.”