Red Bull is now known as one of the best teams in Formula 1. They have won 5 WCCs and 6 WDCs with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
Although Red Bull does not yet have a long history, they seem to be getting there with their performances. They are also known for having a successful junior program for retraining young drivers. Many remarkable drivers were part of the junior program including Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Daniel Ricciardo.
Show car team
In 2005, Dietrich Mateschitz bought the Jaguar F1 Team, who was underperforming at the time. No one around the paddock thought an Austrian energy drink manufacturing company would be able to provide the funds and the time needed to be a Formula 1 Team and be profitable at the same time. But Red Bull proved them wrong.
Before the 2006 season, Red Bull decided to purchase the Minardi team, which had a huge fanbase, and name it Scuderia Toro Rosso. This translated to Team Red Bull. During the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, The Toro Rosso was meant to be a feeder team to prepare drivers for the Red Bull Racing team. In 2009, Toro Rosso Driver, Sebastian Vettel gave the team its first victory. This happened before Red Bull had their first win in the sport.
A breakthrough year for Red Bull
From the 2009 season onwards, Sebastian Vettel raced for Red Bull Racing. In 2009, the team had a competitive car. They achieved their first win at the Chinese Grand Prix in 2009. The team won a total of 6 races during the 2009 season.
The Bulls were not able to win a championship in 2009. Brawn GP, a team owned and managed by Ross Brawn, found a loophole in the regulations of the 2009 season concerning the diffuser. This helped Brawn GP take both the WCC and the WDC from the 2009 season.
Towards the end of the season, Red Bull made certain changes to the car, which really helped them. The team won the last 3 races of the season.
Red Bull’s first championship run
In 2010, Brawn GP was taken over by Mercedes. Mercedes were not competitive at all at the time. However, Red Bull was challenged by McLaren and Ferrari for the title.
The 3 teams were in a close battle for the championship title. But the season saw Red Bull Racing take home the constructor’s trophy. Sebastian Vettel won the Driver’s Championship with Fernando Alonso just 4 points behind in the Ferrari.
The 2011 season, was comparatively easier for the team. They clearly had the best car on the grid. Vettel won the championship by 122 points, while Red Bull won the WCC by 153 points.
2012, presented the team with a challenge. Although the team won the WCC 60 points ahead of Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel had a tougher challenge against Fernando Alonso.
Going into the last race of the season, Vettel had a 13-point lead over Alonso. During the race, Vettel had an incident on the opening lap which put him in last. Shockingly, he was able to make his way back to 6th position, with Alonso at 2nd. This was enough for Vettel to win the championship. Vettel and Red Bull went on to win another Championship the following year.
Turbo hybrid era
The 2014 season marked the beginning of the turbo hybrid Era. At the time, The engine for Red Bull was supplied by Renault. But the engine had a lot of reliability issues. Most of the turbo hybrid era went by with the team having driver issues and reliability Issues.
Sebastian Vettel left The team after the 2014 season to join Ferrari. Red Bull had Daniel Ricciardo who was performing at the time. But for the second seat, they weren’t able to find anyone until 2016. In 2016, Max Verstappen made his debut with the team and won his first race at the Spanish Grand Prix 2016.
Later after the 2018 season, Ricciardo left The team. In 2019, The team decided to switch their engine to Honda. However, The team again struggled to find the right teammate for Max Verstappen. Until In 2021, Sergio Perez joined Red Bull Racing.
Second championship run
The 2021 season was a historic season for the Austrian Constructors. At the time, Mercedes was dominating the sport having won the Championship for the last 7 years. The team came out strong during the 2021 season. As a result, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes were fighting through every corner.
The season was neck to neck throughout the race, until the last race of the season. Going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton were tied in the points. During the race, Lewis Hamilton led for most of the race, until Max Verstappen overtook Hamilton during the last lap of the race, hence taking the WDC.
The 2022 season had a lot of regulation changes including an engine freeze until 2025. The Mercedes F1 team struggled with these new regulations, while Red Bull took full advantage of this and built a very competitive car. the team dominated the 2022 season.
We are now 3 races into the season, and Red Bull seems to be on their way to winning another championship.
Red Bull has now made their mark in the sport and shown that they are not just a show car, but they are here to win.
| Driver | Wins | Podiums | Points | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Coulthard | 0 | 2 | 60 | 0 |
| Christian Klien | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mark Webber | 9 | 41 | 978.5 | 0 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 38 | 65 | 1577 | 4 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 7 | 29 | 956 | 0 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 0 | 2 | 116 | 0 |
| Max Verstappen | 35 | 77 | 1949.5 | 2 |
| Pierre Gasly | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 |
| Alex Albon | 0 | 2 | 181 | 0 |
| Sergio Perez | 3 | 16 | 495 | 0 |
| Totals | 92 | 234 | 6388 | 6 |
The above table shows each driver’s achievement with the team until the end of the 2022 season. Statistically, it is clear that Max Verstappen has brought home more points and podium finishes, but Sebastian Vettel has had more victories and championships so far.
Discussion about this post