Red Bull Racing currently known as Infiniti Red Bull is an Austrian based Formula One Racing team that has its base in Milton Keynes, England. The team is owned and sponsored by the soft drinks manufacturer Red Bull GmbH alongside Scuderia Toro Rosso. The team became the first Austrian team to win the Constructor’s Championship Title. This paper will investigate the historical implication of the Red Bull Racing, its economic issues, social issues, cultural perspectives and the science behind the technology of the motor racing team. These issues will be explored in the context of their implications to the subsequent racing by the team.
The base of the team presently known as Red Bull Racing started as Stewart Grand Prix in the year 1997. The team was established and run by the three times world champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul. The first major win for the team was the European Grand Prix in 1999 that was held at the Nurburgring. The owners then sold the team to Ford Motors after this win and the team raced under the name Jaguar from the year 2000 until 2004. While the team was under the ownership of the Ford Motor Company, it did not win any major trophies. This necessitated the sale of the team to the energy drink company Red Bull GmbH. BBE reported that Red Bull Company decided to buy the team on the last day of sale on November 1, 2004. The company was then reborn and branded to the name of the new owners. The Red Bull Company is an Austrian company that was founded by Dietrich Mateschitz. The company uses virtually all of its marketing funds to support athletes and sport teams. The company also runs a young drivers programme to build its own talent base. The programme is known as Red Bull Junior Team and the company sponsors young but promising drivers. The company also sponsors many drivers and teams especially those participating in the GP2 Series and Formula One Feeder Series.
In the first two seasons under the new ownership, the team finished in the seventh position. However, the team’s performance improved systematically thereafter. In the year 2005, the team scored 35 points when compared to 16 points it scored in 2006. These results were similar to the period when the team was named Jaguar where it finished seventh from the year 2000 to 2004. The owner company realised that the injection of money and the introduction of new team members had not produced any tangible results. It is however noteworthy that in 2005, the car model for the team was of a better design when compared to the year 2006. The team’s fortunes would change for the better in 2010 and 2011. During these years, the team won both the driver’s and constructor’s titles.
Red Bull Racing team has sort to bring the best of marketing to Formula One. This is highlighted by the fact that the company, Red Bull, joined the racing event in order to show off its sporting image as well as to sell its energy drinks. To this end, the company has built the biggest “motor home” in the paddock. It is at this point where the team communicates with the press, its sponsors and other clients. The team also hosts a beauty pageant contest of “Formula Una Girls” at every race that the team takes part in.
After joining the Formula One Racing event, Red Bull racing team had the intention of trying to revamp the event to be a fun one. To this end, the company hired Mark Gallagher, the former marketing head at Jordan for nine years. The sponsoring company also started a magazine called the “Red Bulletin”. This magazine is produced four times per race weekend and is distributed to the paddock and to the rest of the members of the public from behind the grandstand at each race.
In terms of finances, Red Bull Racing had revenue amounting to 285.4 million USD in the year 2011. The team’s expenses in the same year stood at 284.4 million USD. This revenue came from a collection of the prize money, sponsorship deals and the rest from the owner company Red Bull. Their expenses however covered research and development and recurrent expenditure in terms of salaries for the team’s 605 employees.
Initially, the Red Bull Racing was using Red Bull Technology to design, engineer and build cars for the company to participate in races. The company was a subsidiary of the Red Bull Racing and also designed the cars for Red Bull Racing’s sister team Scuderai Toro Rosso. This sparked complaints from the rest of the racing teams leading to change in the regulations in 2005. In line with those regulations, it was prohibited for teams in Formula One to use the same cars. Toro Rosso started designing and building its own cars.
Siemens has already signed a special multi-year contract with Red Bull Racing as its green partner in technology, working with the team in Formula 1 to reduce its overall energy, carbon footprint and utility usage and ensure minimization of waste and process improvements. The agreement is an extension to an already existing contract with Siemens Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software which offers the technology applied by Red Bull Racing engineers and designers to virtually manage and model each and every part of the race car in the struggle to trim critical hundredths times of the second off lap.
In view of the fact that structures account for about 40% demand of global energy and that 30% of this amount could be reduced through enhanced industrial technology, insulation, lighting, efficient heating systems, and controlled air conditioning, Red Bull Racing is collaborating with Siemens to maximize its working efficiency and considerably reduce energy consumption through the enhancement of building systems, processes, equipment and at its manufacturing amenities.
Red-bull racing has different social and economic impacts on the hosting nation or area. Red bull racing is itself a tourist attraction feature. Motorsports in general attracts a number of tourists who generate income for the hosting nation. Since red bull racing attracts fans across the globe, a lot of income is generated in form of registration, participation or entry fee. The collections are used in economic developments of the host country. The cash inflows include the admission receipts and betting on the raceday.After admission of fans, catering is the highest area of expenditure for the fans and racegoers.Media income is generated through advertisement of different industrial products and services. External financers also generate income for the red-bull racing host country. Employment is also created in the various areas including training, production, catering and participation. Due to its significant contribution to the economy of Milton Keynes, the Infiniti Red Bull Racing is to be conferred the Freedom of the Borough of Milton Keynes. By 21st March this year, the team had won the Grand Prix forty seven times. One of their drivers Sebastian Vettel has won the world championships for four times. Acknowledging the honor, Infiniti Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian Horner, noted that Milton Keynes has been their base since the year 2004 after its inception. He also added that much of their staff made living from it.
The Red Bull racing competitions attract many people from across the world who come to watch the race. The visitors have economic, social and cultural benefits to the host country. On the economic part, the visitors coming to watch the competitions bring foreign currency to the host country while boosting the local businesses. On the other hand, Red Bull Racing garners a lot of money from the competitions. According to Forbes, Red Bull Racing was worth four hundred million US dollars by the year 2012. In the year 2011, the F1 team collected almost ninety eight million US dollars in prize. This was exclusive of the additional sixty two million US dollars from sponsorships, merchandise, technical support and brands like Pepe Jeans, Infiniti and Casio.
On the cultural and social perspective, Red bull racing attracts many people from across the world. These people come from different races and cultural contexts, as a result, a lot of social and cultural exchange takes place during the Red Bull racing.
The science behind Red Bull Racing has still remained a secret. However, according to some several sources, a secret technology that Red Bull Racing had developed is behind its victory in many competitions. Vettel’s car is believed to have a feature of traction control that gives him the victory in most of the competitions. Traction control, helps drivers to accelerate faster after taking a turn. During the 2013 race held in Singapore, Vettel made a big win with an incredible lead of thirty two seconds. However, it could be noticed that the engine of the car that Vettel used made a unique sound after he exited the corners. The noise was not just a normal one and speculations have it that it was as a result of the action of the traction control system. Reporting to the Forbes, Orlove pointed out that the peculiar sound was similar to that made by F1 cars in pre 2008 that made use of the traction control system. Traction control system had been banned in the Red Bull Racing. However, it is possible that Red Bull has come up with a legal traction control system. The technology of traction control system is very helpful especially to the drivers who use the cars fitted with the technology. The system incorporates sensors that can tell the exact grip that the rear wheels have on the road. Consequently, they optimize the power acting on the road. Therefore, a car fitted with the traction control system could reach on the gas faster, with minimum risk of spinning and less need for rectification in turn than a normal car. When more power is exerted out of the turn, it reciprocates to increased speed of the car. Due to the fact that traction control system was banned in the Formula one cars, Red Bull had to come up with a legal system that is to attain the same output as the original tracking system. According to a theory by Race car Engineering, there is a possibility that Red Bull had linked the system of the hybrid KERS to suspension, thus, achieving to get around the challenge of unchangeable maps of the engine, as well as, the uniform ECUs problem . The technology commenced with a modest proposition. Theoretically, it is easy to manipulate the charging input torque, as well as, the output torque fed to an electric motor by use of inductors, batteries, capacitors, as well as, a feedback signal. The torque change are easy to control, instant and also legal. If torque was to be modulated to respond to the standard force arising from the contact between the wheels and the track, there is the highest chance that a lot of traction potential that was unused could be recovered in the event of high pressure times. On the other hand, delays on the spin of the wheel could be experienced in the event of the phases of low pressure. According to the Axis of Oversteer, an F1 blog, the theory is not only supported for the performance of Vettel in then Singapore race but also with the history of Red Bull with the hybrid systems .
Armed with such a system, Red Bull is indebted to dominate even in the subsequent races. The system holds a bright future for the team bearing in mind that it is legal. Moreover, Red Bull engineers are spending sleepless nights to come up with a more improved and sophisticated cars. However, one thing that is crystal clear, Red Bull Racing had had a massive impact economically, socially and culturally to Milton Keynes, as well as, the other countries that host then races. The race team has drawn majority of fans across the world who come to watch the competitions bringing a lot of foreign currency and cultural diversity to the host country.
In conclusion, Red Bull racing has been of great help not only locally but also internationally. The races have been the centerpiece of international cohesion and integration, owing to the fact that they draw large numbers of people from across the world. As a result, peace and oneness of the world are preached through the competitions. On the other hand, the spirit of competition is enhanced where other teams are challenged to work hard by the Red Bull. That has led to the development of better race cars and more competent drivers. Moreover, engineers have been forced to come up with designs for more powerful engines, more stable cars and better systems within the car for improved output. This because engineers in other racing teams have had a myriad of questions trying to fathom what systems might Red Bull be using that result to the exemplary performance by the team in several consecutive events. While that happens, the benefit does not only go to the teams alone but the technology is spread even to other sectors and parts of the world, making life easier through automation and application of the emerging technology.
References
AC. (2013, October 3). So How is Red Bull running traction control legally? Retrieved from Axisofoversteer: http://blog.axisofoversteer.com/2013/10/so-how-is-red-bull-running-traction.html
Formula 1. (2014, January 7). About Formula 1. Retrieved June 30, 2014, from About.com: http://formula1.about.com/od/teams/p/redbull.htm
Orlove, R. (2013, August 10). Red Bull May Have Invented A Secret New Hybrid Technology. Jalopink, 34-36. Retrieved from Jalopink: http://jalopnik.com/red-bull-may-have-invented-a-secret-new-hybrid-technolo-1442585020
Sam. (2013, October 10). Red Bull’s traction secret revealed? Racecar engineering, 12-15. Retrieved from Racecar engineering: http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/red-bulls-traction-secret-revealed/
Siemens. (2012, December 7). Siemens and Red Bull Racing. Retrieved from Siemens: http://www.f1inschools.de/fileadmin/user_upload/zum_Download/Red_Bull_Racing_Innovation_Partnership.pdf
Smith, C. (2013, September 10). Why Won't Red Bull Racing Share Its Secret Technology With Mark Webber? Forbes, pp. 22-23. Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2013/10/09/why-wont-red-bull-racing-share-its-secret-technology-with-mark-webber/
