For the first time since 2010, Red Bull failed to win the constructors championship, nor was Vettel crowned champion. Despite this, Red Bull have had a largely positive season. 3 wins and 33 out of a possible 38 finishes landed the Milton Keynes-based team second place in the constructor’s championship.
For 2014, Red Bull lost Mark Webber whose Australian laughter could be heard all the way from Jerez, Spain where Vettels RB10 could barely make it to the end of the pit-lane in winter testing. Mark Webber’s replacement came in the shape of fellow Australian and previous Toro Rosso and HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo who had been picked over Vergne to join Red Bull for the 2014 season. Testing was a nightmare for Red Bull. Whether the car would run or not was “hit and miss”. In Jerez the car’s running was measured in corners, not laps. In Bahrain the RB10 looked much more reliable… on some days. It seemed cooling was a big issue, for Renault engined cars more than others.
By the time of the first race of the season in Australia, Red Bull came up with some cooling solutions and despite the hotter conditions down under, managed to run for the majority of practice. In a wet qualifying Daniel Ricciardo split the Mercedes in P2, whilst his reigning 4-time world champion team-mate was eliminated in Q2! Whilst Vettel retired on Lap 3, Ricciardo stormed to a second place finish in front of his home country on his Red Bull debut, to only be disqualified for excessive fuel use afterwards.
Despite scoring no points in Australia, Red Bull looked to be title contenders once again and in Malaysia, Sebastian Vettel came close to overtaking Rosberg to prevent a 1-2 for Mercedes. Unfortunately for Red Bull, this was the closest their comparative pace was to the Silver Arrows all year. They needed some luck to stand a chance of finishing ahead of them. That luck came first in Canada where both Mercedes almost simultaneously suffered ERS failures leaving them without 160 horsepower on one of F1’s most power demanding circuits. Ricciardo eventually superbly weaved his way through the field to overtake Rosberg to win his first F1 race.
Red Bull disappointed at the ironically named “Red Bull Ring” track in Austria where Mercedes were running away in the standings. Winning the Constructor’s was now unrealistic… but out of nowhere some more “luck” came along.
Hamilton’s engine fire in qualifying left a Mercedes starting from pit-lane in Hungary, and Rosberg was awfully unfortunate with the timing of the first safety car. Ricciardo started 2nd on the grid and drove a clean race. Vettel meanwhile was struggling in the wet conditions and span, struggling to adapt to the 2014 car all season it seemed. Ricciardo’s fresh tyres at the end made Hamilton and Alonso easy meat and crossed the line to win his 2nd race of the season. Little did he know that he’d win again after the summer break.
Ricciardo made it back-to-back wins with another in Spa, Belgium. Again the Mercedes pace was hindered by a collision… but a win is a win and Ricciardo was catching the Mercedes drivers in the standings.
What was happening to Vettel? His new team mate had only been in the team for less than a year and was stealing the spotlight completely. Sebastian was vocally annoyed earlier in China and initially refused to let Ricciardo pass to maximise the potential of his strategy, replying to the teams request with “tough luck”. Vettel’s form was about to improve in the next couple of races after Italy.
Red Bull claimed their second double podium of the year in Singapore (Canada being the other). The Bulls grasped the opportunity when Rosberg’s Mercedes was struggling to even move. Vettel fought off Ricciardo to keep second place – his best result of the year. Vettel scored his final podium of the year at the following race in Japan.
After Sochi it was mathematically impossible to in the Championship which didn’t come as a surprise. Their attention turned to beating the surging Williams pair. For the final 4 races, Red Bull had the 3rd fastest car behind Williams also. Red Bull were so isolated in the constructors championship they had nothing to worry about. They’ll have turned all their focus to 2015 already.
Daniel Ricciardo 238 points / 3rd in the Driver’s Championship
Ricciardo was the revelation of the season in many F1 fans eyes. It was nip and tuck whether he’d beat JEV to the Red Bull seat but he’s really well to both the Red Bull car and new style of driving required by F1’s new era. He’s immediately taken the #1 driver status at Red Bull and his success over Vettel is thought to be a part of the reason the German decided to leave the team. Ricciardo said himself that he didn’t expect to see many chequered flags let alone win a race or three.
Sebastian Vettel 167 points / 5th in the Driver’s Championship
He’ll be unhappy with the RB10’s reliability for him during the season with more retirements than his team mate but he’ll also be wondering how he was not consistently competing with or beating Daniel. It may be that Ricciardo became accustomed to low levels of grip at Toro Rosso whilst Vettel was driving a very stable car in 2013.
Performance Comparison
| Sebastian Vettel | Daniel Ricciardo | |
| Qualified ahead | 7 | 12 |
| Average qualifying gap | +0.077s | -0.077s |
| Finished race ahead | 3 | 11 |
| Laps spent ahead | 448 | 483 |
Red Bull did very well in 2015 but as the year went on and the grid settled into consistent positions, Williams looked like a big threat and took the highest points score of anyone with 66 points from the double points race. Had Williams had a smooth start to the season Red Bull would’ve had competition for 2nd place in the end. Red Bull will be hoping to regain top spot next year, but for once it wouldn’t be with Vettel as Daniil Kvyat steps in instead. Red Bull will improve next season but so will Mercedes. Expect the gap to close a little.
