- Red Bull
Aggressive packaging contributed to Jerez issues - Red Bull
Adrian Newey has admitted the packaging of Red Bull's new RB10 was too tight for the cooling demands of Renault's power unit during the opening test in Jerez, but is hopeful the team will have a solution for this week's test in Bahrain.
Red Bull struggled to complete 21 laps over four days in Jerez and packed up early on the final day in order to return to base. Renault admitted to problems with its engine and has also been working on solutions, but Newey said Red Bull's "aggressive" design was also to blame.
"What stopped us at Jerez, on our side as opposed to Renault's side, was a problem where the bodywork local to the exhaust was catching fire," Newey told Autosport.com. "It's a problem which hopefully we can get on top of ready for Bahrain. It was really a lack of time [that caused the problem]. It was something that we could have proved out on the dyno if we had managed to get everything together earlier.
"But Renault have been up against it in terms of their use of the dyno, we have been up against it making the parts in time. So I think had we been a couple of weeks further ahead then that could all have been done in private on the dyno. But unfortunately it was done in public.
"Hands up on our side, that was a Red Bull problem. It was, you could argue, a result of aggressive packaging but we felt that we needed to take a few risks to try to get a good package that would minimise the aerodynamic damage of this very large cooling requirement.
"The Renault seems to have a particularly large cooling requirement. Everybody of the three engine manufacturers will have a different target for how hot their charge air is going back into the plenum and Renault have given us a fairly challenging target. It has all sorts of advantages if we can get there, but it is not easy to achieve."
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