MILTON KEYNES, UK – Christmas is just around the corner and pretty soon the tree will be going up in reception here at the factory in Milton Keynes – but it's not too outlandish to suggest that we've already had a bumper-crop of presents this year.
The 2013 season has been a special one for INFINITI Red Bull Racing. Thirteen race wins is our best-ever haul. Add to that 11 pole positions, 11 other podium places, 12 fastest laps and four 1-2 finishes and it sounds like we had it all our own way. But that's not how it went down: Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari all built race-winning cars, and supremely talented world champions were arrayed in opposition, highly motivated to knock us off the perch. We had great races, furious battles and magical moments. Is it possible to hold your breathe for eight months? Yes. We've done it.
What are the standout moments? Frankly, after a while it all tends to blur into one, so fortunately there are plenty of images out there to document our season in pictures. Here are some of the best.
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Australian Grand Prix, March 15-17
Winter testing had gone well. Not stellar, but good enough. The RB9 did what the simulation and wind tunnel said it should do, and everything fitted together without too much help from the grinder and lump hammer. The car looked particularly good over a long run but not so hot on a single lap – so locking out the front row in Albert Park was a nice surprise. Seb sported a Red Bull Stratos design on his lid, in homage to the records broken by Felix Baumgartner the previous year. While not exactly freefall, both Seb and Mark fell away in the race, finishing third and sixth respectively as Kimi Räikkönen won for Lotus, surprising his competitors by eking out a two-stop race. In other news, we got to welcome our antipodean namesakes into the garage as a pair of drivers from Red Bull Racing Australia paid us a visit. V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup we know – the other bloke was just some rookie, can't remember his name...
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Malaysian Grand Prix, March 22-24
No time to mull over any failings from Melbourne. We had to pack-up, ship out, get right back down to business at Sepang. As usual, it was hot, as usual it was steamy and for the second time in a week, Sebastian was on pole. But as the rain fell and the lightning lit up Kuala Lumpur, it was Mark who stole the thunder, making the most of tricky early conditions to get into the lead and hold it until getting the signal from the pit wall to keep position and get to the line. At least that was the plan. Seb had other ideas and Multi 21 is now part of Formula One history. On the upside, we got a 1-2 finish despite the heat and the humidity, and the crew managed to break the pit stop record five times during the race, including a jaw-dropping 2.05s stop for Mark that became the new benchmark – at least for a while.
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Chinese Grand Prix, April 12-14
China was where the wheels came off – literally in Mark's case. A strong suspicion that tire management was going to dominate 2013 was realized in Shanghai, where many drivers complained that on the soft tire it wasn't a question of how many laps they'd manage but how many corners. Seb opted to sacrifice grid position to start on the hard tire. He nearly made it work but ultimately just fell short, finishing fourth. Mark had a more torrid weekend: He ran out of fuel in Q2 and had to start from the pit lane. In the race he collided with Jean-Eric Vergne and had to pit, but the damage sustained in the impact ultimately resulted in him losing a wheel and retiring.
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Bahrain Grand Prix, April 19-21
Once again, what a difference a week makes. As had been the case in the season's opening back-to-back pairing, a poor race in China was followed immediately by a victory in Bahrain. The heat of Sakhir suited the RB9's better and Seb won fairly comfortably, standing on the top step a podium that was a carbon copy of 2012's – except it was Gill Jones, head of trackside electronics, collecting the constructors' trophy rather than Christian Horner. Mark, meanwhile, struggled due to a penalty from China and commemorated his 200th Grand Prix start with a lowly seventh-place finish.
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Spanish Grand Prix, May 10-12
"A tough race," said CH in Barcelona after Seb and Mark finished fourth and fifth respectively, with team owner Dietrich Mateschitz looking on. Seb, meanwhile, was a little more talkative. The four-stop strategy that he and most of the other front-runners used turned up the volume on the tire debate: "We're not going the pace of the car, we're going the pace of the tires," was the quote that got rather a lot of traction in the weeks that followed.
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Monaco Grand Prix, May 24-26
Ah, Monaco in May, what could be finer? We love every overcrowded, over-priced, bling-encrusted inch of the Principality. It's the stuff of which dreams are made. And not surprisingly, we had no shortage of superstars stopping by the floating Energy Station. Sébastien Ogier took a moment out of his dominant WRC season to come down, and we had Dougie Lampkin (motor) and Mattias Dandois (pedal) doing things on bikes you really shouldn't try at home. Seb had a racy lid for the weekend and we managed a double podium finish – but the ultimate honors went to Nico Rosberg. Mercedes had a quick car in qualifying and once Nico got smoothly away from pole he wasn't going to be budged from the lead around the streets of his hometown – even though the race had the usual share of Monegasque drama, including a red flag.
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Canadian Grand Prix, June 7-9
The Canadian Grand Prix has nearly been very kind to us in the past, which is to say it hasn't been kind at all – but this year all that changed and finally we had a victory in North America. Seb dominated the weekend, taking pole on a wet Saturday and coasting to victory in better conditions on Sunday. Mark had a tougher weekend and finished fourth on an eventful day that saw him collide with Giedo van der Garde and set fastest lap. Elsewhere, Montreal reinforced its reputation as one of the glamour races of the calendar as Michael Fassbender took time out from X-Men filming to drop by the garage.
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British Grand Prix, June 28-30
The British Grand Prix – or the Race of the Exploding Tires as it became known – was a proper rollercoaster. Seb retired from the lead with a rare gearbox failure, and Mark finished second, just 0.7s behind winner Nico Rosberg – but for once the result wasn't the main event. Pirelli showed up with their two hardest compounds, but that wasn't sufficient to prevent multiple blowouts. The 120,000 spectators saw first Lewis Hamilton then Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Sergio Pérez all suffer left-rear failures. Esteban Gutiérrez had a left-front let go, and Fernando Alonso had a right-rear deflate. Race director Charlie Whiting considered calling the whole thing off but eventually decided to let events continue – albeit with a couple of safety car interludes. Meanwhile, as always around our home race, it was a busy week. At the factory the Red Bull Wiiings girls paid a visit and we hosted our annual #OPENHOUSE event for fans, while at the track we welcomed Geri Halliwell, Goldie, snowboarder Aimee Fuller and mountain-biker Gee Atherton to the garage.
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German Grand Prix, July 5-7
Seb celebrated his birthday on the Wednesday of race week and in the mad dash from Silverstone to the Eifel we forgot the cake stand, so he had to make do with a surprisingly adaptable engine trolley. He cut the cake with the precision and equity that only someone with lots of siblings can muster and went on being just about perfect throughout the weekend. It was a monkey off Seb's back as – finally – he won his home grand prix. Starting second, he nipped past Lewis Hamilton at the first corner. But then he had his mirrors full of Mark in the opening stint, and Mark – as usual masterful at the Nürburgring – had a chance of jumping Seb at the pit stops. His stop, however, didn't go well, with a wheel coming loose and causing chaos as it bounced away down the pitlane. Rejoining a lap down, he had to battle back through the field and eventually finished seventh. Tennis player Angelique Kerber was in the garage, though the center of attention throughout the weekend was Niki Lauda. Despite having his very own team to play with, Niki usually has breakfast at our place, but at the 'ring he had an after-dinner date with the drivers and about half the paddock as the circuit cinema showed a sneak preview of Ron Howard's Rush. Niki reckons it's pretty good – everyone else found it slightly unnerving to watch it with the real Niki doing commentary in the background.
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Hungarian Grand Prix, July 26-28
Geographically a short trip from Germany but another world in terms of circuit layout, the tight, twisty Hungaroring proved a tough ask, with Seb and Mark finishing third and fourth respectively. It wasn't a standout race by any means, but a good, solid result in slightly unfavorable conditions and enough to ensure that Sebastian and the team went into the summer break holding big leads in their respective championships. As usual, Budapest provided a great welcome to F1 and its spectators and, as a handy location for any-era film and TV production, supplied quite the eclectic range of celebrity garage guests. This year we had Sam Worthington, Thomas Kretschmann and F1-regular Liam Cunningham in attendance.
About INFINITI
INFINITI Motor Company Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with sales operations in approximately 50 countries. The INFINITI brand was launched in 1989. Its range of premium automobiles is currently built in manufacturing facilities in Japan and the United States. Production in China and Europe will start soon along with the expansion of the brand's portfolio.
As the Title Partner and Vehicle Performance Partner of INFINITI Red Bull Racing, INFINITI has a far-reaching technical collaboration with the Formula One team, and Sebastian Vettel, its four-time World Champion driver, serves as INFINITI's Director of Performance.
More information about INFINITI, its Total Ownership Experience® and its industry leading technologies can be found at www.infiniti.com. For the latest news on INFINITI, visit INFINITINews.com, "like" INFINITI on Facebook or follow the brand on Twitter @INFINITIUSA. For interesting content on INFINITI in Formula One visit: www.infiniti-gp.com, www.youtube.com/INFINITIGP or follow on Twitter @INFINITIGP.
About INFINITI in Formula One
INFINITI, the premium automotive brand, starts the 2013 season as Title Partner and Vehicle Performance Partner of INFINITI Red Bull Racing. With a deepened technical collaboration across people, process and technologies, an ‘open door' approach is enabling both sides to access a pool of innovation, new technologies and R&D resources in the shared pursuit of precision and performance.
Since the partnership's inception in 2011 it has already seen the launch of the INFINITI FX Vettel Edition and product development input from Sebastian Vettel and test driver Sebastien Buemi for the all-new INFINITI Q50 premium sports saloon. INFINITI continues to be the most visible automotive brand in Formula One, and the deepened partnership will ensure closer alignment on an increasing number of future team collaborations.
For interesting content on INFINITI in Formula One visit: www.infiniti-gp.com, www.youtube.com/INFINITIGP or follow on Twitter @INFINITIGP.
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