Sebastian Vettel insists he is not writing off his chances of winning a fifth successive world title despite enduring a difficult pre-season campaign. Vettel and Red Bull struggled with the reliability of the RB10 during the three pre-season tests but the German insists it's too soon to make definitive predictions. Vettel cited Fernando Alonso's form in 2012 with a recalcitrant car as his inspiration. "I don’t think that’s fair to say. It’s a long year," he said when asked if he's not optimistic about the […]

The final part of our season preview analyses the potential fortunes of those who battled for wins and the championship in 2013 - how will they fare in Formula 1's new era? Lotus-Renault 8 | Romain Grosjean; 13 | Pastor Maldonado Lotus has endured a troublesome off-season. Their financial situation remains difficult, while they’ve lost their team principal and star driver. The car was delayed due to problems in the supply chain while when it did run, it wasn’t quick and it didn’t work for […]

Daniel Ricciardo believes a points finish this weekend in Australia would represent a good start for reigning world champions Red Bull. Ricciardo has moved across from Toro Rosso but his first pre-season campaign with Red Bull has been marred by problems with the RB10. The team has yet to complete a full race distance, leading Ricciardo to emphasise the importance of simply finishing the race. "Not to play it down, but if we could finish and start the season with some points then, considering the […]

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has conceded that Red Bull is not the team to beat ahead of next weekend's Australian Grand Prix. Red Bull has endured a problematic pre-season testing programme with its RB10 as overheating problems and issues with the Renault power unit restricted its running. Vettel echoed comments made by team principal Christian Horner, who admits that Red Bull is not in a position to challenge Mercedes. "It’s great to be starting the season next week," said Vettel. "We didn’t do as […]

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says that the team's RB10 needs pace and reliability ahead of next weekend's season-opening round in Australia. The team has struggled during pre-season testing as reliability issues have put the reigning world champions on the back foot. "After testing we quite clearly have a car which doesn't have the ultimate pace, and doesn't have the reliability," he told The Telegraph. "So they are fairly two fundamental factors that we need to get on top of." "Pre-season hasn't gone anywhere […]

Red Bull has hit back at claims that Sebastian Vettel threw a 'hissy fit' following the first test at Jerez. A 'major publication' claimed that Vettel refused to drive the Red Bull RB10 until its problems were sorted. In a light-hearted rebuttal posted, Red Bull's 'F1 Spy' posted a response on the team's official website. 'A major news broadcaster posted the story this morning, along with the line "No-one outside the team knows whether it happened or not, and those on the inside wouldn't say. […]

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that Red Bull is not up to scratch, with just three days of pre-season testing remaining. Ricciardo set the seventh quickest time on the first day of the final pre-season test in Bahrain but once again lost out on track running as his RB10 developed an exhaust problem. The Australian driver completed 36 laps. "It's still not enough laps but we are going in the right direction," Ricciardo told reporters after the first day of action. "Last week, we were doing […]

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that Red Bull need more time after the team endured another difficult day of pre-season testing. Ricciardo was sidelined for much of the morning due to a software issue with the RB10 and the team then discovered another mechanical problem after a brief run. Further investigation revealed more damage to the car and Red Bull was unable to repair the car in time. "In all honesty it wasn't a great day today," said Ricciardo, who eventually completed 15 laps "I guess […]

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has conceded that Red Bull is on the back foot after more problems on the first day of testing in Bahrain. Vettel completed 14 laps and set the fifth fastest time, although his running was curtailed when the RB10 stopped on track in the afternoon. The RB10 was pictured with a small amount of flames emerging from the sidepod. Red Bull endured a miserable time at the first test at Jerez where they completed just 21 laps. Vettel revealed after […]

Red Bull's chief technical officer Adrian Newey says a lack of time caused the team to air their problems in public at the first test at Jerez. Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo were able to complete just 21 laps across four days of running in the RB10. Overheating issues with the RB10 were also compounded by Renault's own problems with its power units. "What stopped us at Jerez, on our side as opposed to Renault's side, was a problem where the bodywork local to the […]

Christian Horner says that next week's test in Bahrain is 'important' for reigning champions Red Bull. Red Bull completed just 21 laps in the RB10 at the first test at Jerez due to issues with the cooling on its car, a situation which was exacerbated by Renault's problems with the new power unit. "Well obviously there's quite a bit to do but there's still a fair bit of time before the first race and the Bahrain test next week is an important test so obviously […]

Daniel Ricciardo says that he is not worried about Red Bull's lack of running at the first pre-season test at Jerez. Ricciardo completed just three laps on Thursday to take Red Bull's running for the week in the new RB10 to just 14 laps. "The break before Bahrain will help," he said, referring to the second test next month. "Even if tomorrow doesn’t go to plan then we’re not worried. We’ve got two weeks there then there’s Melbourne. It’s a long year, [I'm] definitely not […]