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Salzburg may be home to Mozart and the Sound of Music, but the greatest orchestra to my ears is found under the hood of everything stored in Hangar 7. Where else do you get an opportunity to view so many F1 cars just feet away? Hangar 7 is a huge check off any F1 fan's bucket list. The Red Bull Racing team displays their cars from the 2006 (RB2) through 2011 (RB7) seasons. You can appreciate the details that go into these machines. It's fascinating to look at the changes over the years from the rules around wing designs and rear diffusers.
In 2007, the Red Bull Racing team transferred their contract with Ferrari to the Toro Rosso team. The 2007 RB3 was the first Red Bull car designed by Adrian Newey and the first to be powered by a Renault engine. The Red Bull Racing RB3 is a composite monocoque, meaning the car's external skin supports the structural load. The RB3 is powered by a 2400cc V8 Renault RS27 naturally aspirated motor with a seven speed transmission. Issues with the seamless shift gearbox caused drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber to retire many races early.
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| The RB3 Special Edition on display was decorated with the faces of around 15,000 F1 fans. In exchange for their mug on the RB3, a donation was made in 2007 to Wings of Life- a non-profit research foundation created to support medical research to healing paraplegia caused by spinal cord injuries. |
The RB4 was used in the 2008 season, also a Newey designed car. Due to regulations in 2008 that prevented driver aids like engine braking and traction control, the RB4 was fitted with a new fin shaped engine cover that extended the maximum car height from the airbox to the rear wing. While it seemed to test well, the season wasn't too successful- 18 races, 0 wins, 0 poles, and 0 fastest laps.
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| The Red Bull Racing RB4 also has a Renault R27 V8 engine and seven speed gearbox. It spins to 19,000rpm. Both front and rear suspension systems have aluminum alloy uprights, upper and lower carbon wishbones and pushrods, torsion bar springs, and anti-roll bars, with multimatic dampers. |
Finally, the Red Bull team and Newey got their um… stuff… together. The RB5 was driven in the 2009 F1 season by drivers Mark Webber (2 wins) and Sebastian Vettel (4 wins) including a 1-2 finish at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix. It also took home 2nd place in the constructor's championship and Vettel also finished 2nd in the drivers' standings behind Jensen Button. The new rules for 2009 included mandatory narrower and higher rear wings and wider and lower front wings to facilitate overtaking.
A Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) was also allowed. While it weighs about 55 pounds and raises the car's center of gravity, it allows energy otherwise wasted during braking to be reused via a boost button on the driver's steering wheel. Red Bull attempted its own design but it went up in flames- literally; overheated batteries. They then were going to adopt the system used by the Renault team but the RB5 never actually raced with the KERS system in place.
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| Sebastian Vettel liked to name his cars, calling the RB5 “Kate” and later after crashing at Melbourne's Albert Park, ”Kate's Dirty Sister.” It must have worked out well for him as he became runner up in the drivers' championship. |
The RB6 was raced in the 2010 season. Renault RS27, 18k redline, etc. Seems Vettel gets his jollies giving these babies a ride on the track. His RB6 was named “Luscious Liz.” After he damaged Liz in Monaco, his new chassis was “Randy Mandy.”
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| The RB6 was driven in 2010 by Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. With 15 pole positions and 9 Grand Prix victories, the Red Bull team took the Constructor's Championship (first Austrian team to do so) and Driver's Championship with Vettel the youngest ever F1 driver to do so (23 years, 133 days). |
