comparison picture of the RB5 and the other 6 cars released
http://www.pitlanefanatic.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=611

there is some slight distortion due to differing camera angle, but overall gives a good visual comparison

thos cascade wings dont do it any justice imho

This makes me particularily wonder what the position of the driver inside the car will be.
It looks like they are gonna be high up with their feet, must be a funny feeling to drive like this...

Great looking car.

Newey delivers on looks once again

Adrian Newey says the costs of KERS will be high when more expensive air freighting is taken into account.

JEREZ, Spain, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Formula One's new KERS energy recovery system will come at a heavy cost for the opening long-haul races, Red Bull technical head Adrian Newey said on Monday.
"We will race it when we feel we are ready to race it and when we feel it is definitely a benefit and also when it can justify its cost," he told reporters at the launch of the team's new RB5 car in southern Spain.
"The air freight costs are fairly significant for all this stuff."
"The (costs of the) special containers and couriers that you need to use to transport the batteries worldwide are significant," he said.
"There are more technicians that have to travel with KERS, so that increases our headcount at a racetrack also because of the health and safety issues," he said.
"There's a lot of additional operational costs associated with KERS which are only more expensive when they are 3,000 to 4,000 miles away as opposed to the European races."

Can anyone explain what's going on between the wheels along the top side of the nose?

I thought to start with that the whole width of the nose was angled, leaving it difficult for the driver to see where he was going. But now I see it's just the sides, with a channel going down the centre.

Tight package + Neweycar = reliabilityproblems :\

That could be a problem. They are however, being very cautious on the introduction of KERS.

wow, toyota's dimensions are nearly identical to rb5. Hopefully they both got it right

looking at this pic it is insane how low the rear is
http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/35t797f37.jpg

I think that's what Newey means by 'agressive' design. The whole car just melts away to nothing at the back.

I wouldn´t be surprised if it´s a bit too aggressive, which will lead to typical Newey reliability issues...

Vettel: "The gearbox oil temperature went high and we did not know why, so we decided to stop"

Sounds like the lowered exhausts are cooking the gearbox oil!?

They can't possibly have taken it to the track without any testing beforehand. Can they?

I wouldn't be either.

and welcome to the world of newey designs, even the F60 looks fat compared to this, the rear end is non excisting and they cant understand why it gets hot

Newey can be a bit over the top when designing the cars but they do know the laws of thermodynamics and I am sure they would have a gearbox cooler in it somewhere. Give it a some more running before people start calling him a complete dolt.

Is Jerez cold this time of year? What is it with Vettel and that toque?

I think Mr. Newey knows exactly what he's doing

Geof Willys is there and will provide reliability to the 2009 contender.
If GW comes to a conclusion that something is not working in the project, Newey will change it for sure, now that they know and trust each other's work.

Don't forget that Newey is the conceptual father of the 2008 WDC car.
And I won't be surprised if McLaren copy the RedBull, in case the car proves to be slow.

To me the new RedBull looks like a LowRider, the front lifted and the back draging in the ground.
It looks like a small sitting arrow-shaped Frogg.

More diffusor pics



enhanced to see more details:



...quite different from competitors.

I think that Newey is a very very good, possibly a great designer.

He does however function best when someone try to hold him back. By the looks of it the Red Bull will once more have the Newey credo of 'packaging', which have in seasons past led to reliability issues at the start of the season.

I do not like the drivers seating position, or at least not what seems to be their position. They are angled back and up, which may for for the designs aero and cooling ideas, however a driver who is not comfortable will not be able to deliver 100% during a race.

looks like the rear wing endplates is an extended part of diffuser.

All the High Res photos, they show everything, the rear end is

http://www.gurneyflap.com/formule109.html

This car is spot-on. Definitely better than the Renault and arguably better equipped than the Ferrari too. It's the most beautiful design of the year. Great job by the team

A bit too early to say if it's a good car or not ;) but my goodness does it look awesome. Extreme

What i find remarkable is how low the center of gravity looks to be and I predict that this combined with the long wheelbase will prove to be a very fast and stable car on high speed corners. An improved engine is welcome too. The area of the splitter and under the nose is extremely clean compared to the rest of the cars. The oval shaped under nose as well is very interesting and different than what have been used in the past years. Compared to the Ferrari the back end of the car sits very low, Its not that much the minimalism there but how everything is extended from the floor and on the Ferrari it looks to me as if the gearbox just sits significantly higher. Beautiful outlines and general aerodynamic shape, no doubt there are some radical solutions under the cover in order to achieve that and I believe on its day it can prove to be a winning combination. SV is one hell of pilot too. Lets just hope the reliability is there. If they have that i think they are in a very good shape for some surprises this year.

In any case we are in for some big questions this year regarding the order of the pack and i can't wait to find the answers. Besides the expected big 3 ( Ferrai, BMW and McLaren) we have Toyota pushing hard, Alonso/Renault combination is not to be underestimated too, and now we have a strong combination of SV and Red Bull in the mix. Honestly I JUST CAN'T WAIT to see all of them fighting each other on the track

As is the case with Renault, Total replaces Elf at Red Bull. The Milton-Keynes based team has also signed contracts with a few new sponsors.

obviously the ears were banned with the new rules

KERS will be tested this week still.

The bodywork on top of the car is like a wing that is designed to generate lift! Of course, there is the underside too and I am sure it is meant to work as a whole.

That ass is amazing. Goddbye Jessica Biel, hello RB5.

I really like this car.

Yeah, me too.

Having just looked at the pics, I think it's already my favourite of all the new 2009 cars.

Can't wait to see Sebastian Vettel wringing it's neck!!

My favorite car so far as well... to my surprise I think I'm getting used to the 2009 look already (not the Renault though )

Love the exhaust outlets, huge rear wing endplates and how the nose seems to point upwards.

I wonder what Red Bull can do if the gearbox runs hot after 10 slow laps or so... that doesn't sound too good

Obviously they've kept an eye on this but by the looks of it the exhaust gases could easily scorch the suspension arms.

Just look at the space between tyre and bodywork, McLaren have have 2-3cm, RB 20cm space.

It is a lot of space, but the mclaren wheelbase is shorter so there is always going to be less space.

The Red Bull looks more tightly packaged back there but the camera shots are quite different, look at the camera pod..

Redbull moved the damper (inerter?) packages from the top of the gearbox (MP4-24), to the sides of the gearbox, basically sitting on the floor near the engine (RB5). Hence the difference between the two cars.

It's the most radical mechanical design I have seen on any of the 2009 cars so far. Very daring of Newey. Hope it works out for him.

It looks very purposeful. Red Bull intend to go racing with a vengeance this year.

RB5 excitement aside...

Webber's house cleaner breaks leg

You couldn't make it up. They say bad things come in sets of threes. What's next eh?

Something very Leyton House about the mid-to-rear end of the car.

yeah, haha , was thinking the same

Does a F1 car under 2009 rule allowed to have two hot radiator air exhaust under the car, in front of defuser?

I mean there is nothing like that no where close to the back of the car to be found.... RB5 has overheated the gear box, tho...

I remember a Newey McLaren that kept igniting the rear wing, due to the exhaust temperatures.

Biggest issue for Webber is the feared weight balance issues, due to running KERS with its rearward weight, and the slick tyres requiring the weight shifted forward. I expect Webber will not be as well setup as Vettel if they run KERS. I wonder if Vettel will run KERS, and Webber will not run it? It would not surprise me ...

Newey said yesterday:

Autosport Q & A With Adrian Newey

Definitely seems to be an issue! Its passing right under them.

RB5 Kabab

The way they have the endplates on the rear wing makes their diffuser HUGE!!!!

wow it looks amazing..the best looking car so far for me....and like you all pointed it very aggressive rear approach...

Its either super fast or super slow but one thing thats not is mediocre