2014 Red Bull RB10

Chris Jenkins · Mar 12, 2014

So he went for Suzie.

Damn I didn't think of that one.

Slow-motion Suzie it is then!

Dux · Mar 14, 2014

The car is not slow at all! I am quite surprised from first two practice sessions!
Plus more importantly it is reliable so far now

Jax Humanhater · Mar 16, 2014

I'm sure Vettel will find his way back to the top step of the podium.

Today has proven that the car is in decent shape.

I'm curious to see how Vettel does the next race. Ricciardo too.

I think Daniel could give Seb a run for his money one day.

Chris Jenkins · Mar 17, 2014

I'm intrigued how the Red Bull would've performed with the correct fuel flow.

Shane Butler · Mar 17, 2014

Chris Jenkins said:
I'm intrigued how the Red Bull would've performed with the correct fuel flow.

Me too. But I doubt it would have been a significant pace advantage.. or would it? I'd have no idea.

Chris Jenkins · Mar 18, 2014

Shane Butler said:
Me too. But I doubt it would have been a significant pace advantage.. or would it? I'd have no idea.

Does seem strange that Ricciardo was the only driver in a Renault car with any consistent pace.

Jordi Casademunt · Mar 18, 2014

The Toro Rossos weren't that bad either.

Considering a 100kg fuel limit, and the race being more or less 1 hour and a half long, even with the second formation lap and the pace car you'd use around 66kg/h on average.

So even if Ricciardo's car went over 100kg/h (and I doubt it was a high amount, perhaps 10kg/h or so at the peak), he would have had to save fuel for a longer time than the other cars.

So overall race time would have been more or less the same. You could argue that without those higher consumption peaks (and therefore power) he might have been passed by some cars (Magnussen, perhaps more in the first few laps), but with his pace, he could have gotten ahead with tyre strategies.

TL;DR: I don't think he gained any race pace with this, at most a position to Magnussen.

[tinfoilhat]Unless...Red Bull have fitted a hidden fuel tank and they used way more than 100kg.[/tinfoilhat]. Unlikely, since it would be easy to see in the telemetry, if someone used more than 100kg.

Phil Dawson · Mar 19, 2014

Fuel flow rate isn't there to save fuel, and flow rate varies through strategy and driving conditions.

It is there as a power restriction, so it is likely that running over the 100kg/h would have given him some kind of power advantage.

Jordi Casademunt · Mar 19, 2014

He would have had more power, but only for a limited time. After that he'd have to save fuel for a longer time than the other drivers, since he would have spent more fuel in order to get more power.

I'm not claiming it did not gain him any advantage, having a higher power peak might have allowed him to defend position at the start, and when Magnussen reached him near the end of the race. But his pace was probably the same than with the proper fuel flow limit.

ENDR · Mar 19, 2014

It would probably help, if the FIA also told WHEN RB went over the flow limit.

Phil Dawson · Mar 19, 2014

From what I read, Red Bull were given warnings DURING the race that he was going over, and they had chosen to ignore it.

F1 has NEVER been about doing what the rules say, but doing what they rules don't say. With that in mind, where every little advantage no matter how much you push the rule is what every team is striving for, that Red Bull likely intentionally ran over, and ignored it, hoping for a warning. This time, they gambled and lost.