F1: Behind Red Bull's new F1 cars

Design genius Adrian Newey describes the cars Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will race this year, and Toro Rosso's technical chiefs explain Daniel Ricciardo's

MOTORSPORT REPORT

How Newey has coped with ban on blown diffuser
The master designer of the Formula One cars dual world champion Sebastian Vettel and Australian Mark Webber will race this year says Red Bull Racing may have lost more than rival teams under the latest rules.

Red Bull's RB8 car was revealed overnight in Spain, with Adrian Newey -- who has been involved in winning 14 world titles (constructors' and drivers') in a 30-year career -- calling it "the great grandson" of the RB5, his 2009 car. Like many of this year's F1 cars it has a "stepped" nose (see images) but it is the ban on blown diffusers that has caused the biggest re-think for Newey and his engineering department.

Webber will begin testing the Renault-engined RB8 at the Jerez circuit in Spain tonight, while young West Australian Daniel Ricciardo will be in smaller, midfield Red Bull team Scuderia Toro Rosso's Ferrari-engined STR7, which also was unveiled overnight.

redbullracing.com has all the announcements and images from the launches of the two cars. While the RB8 information is prominent there, that on the STR7 is under 'Toro Rosso' fourth tab from the left at the top of the home page.

Newey predicts Webber "will be one to look out for" in the season starting at Melbourne's Australian Grand Prix on March 16-18 after "a rocky ride last year".

Newey described the RB8 as "the fourth evolution of the RB5".

"We have lost the exhaust technology with the restriction exhaust outlet position that we were able to develop and perhaps be ahead of the pack on in the last couple of years," he said.

"That led to a big re think over the [northern] winter... Whether that will affect us more than other people is difficult to know.

"We designed the RB7, last year's car [which won 12 GPs], around that exhaust position and were probably the only people to do so, so it may be that we've lost more than other people through that.

"Regulation restrictions like the lost exhaust are a bit frustrating because they are exactly that -- they are restrictions, they're not giving new opportunities or revenues particularly, they're just closing a door. Regulation changes I enjoy; regulation restrictions I rather lament.

"RB7 was designed around the exhaust. This year, knowing that the exhaust position from last year would be taken away we've had to go back and look at how we developed the car through the last one and two years with the side exit exhaust and try and make sure that the routes we had taken that were only suitable for that exhaust position we now had to re-evaluate.

"Probably one of the key things there is the rear ride height. The exhaust allowed us to run a high rear ride height. It's much more difficult without that to sustain a high rear height, so we have to go back down and have to redevelop the car around that lower ride height.

"The nose height restriction, which is a maximum height just in front of the front bulkhead, hasn't really changed the chassis shape very much.

"We've kept more or less the same chassis shape, but had to drop the nose just in front of the front bulkhead, which, in common with many other teams, has led us to, I'd say, a slightly ugly looking nose. We've tried to style it as best we can, but it's not a feature you would choose to put in were it not for the regulation.

"It will be nice to get out and do some testing and see where we get to, but it won't be until we get to Melbourne qualifying that we'll really get more of a feel for it."

Vettel, still only 24 and aiming for a third straight world title, hoping to deny F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's wish that he not dominate again like last year, will take over testing of the RB8 on Thursday and Friday after Webber does the first two days.

The STR7 is the third F1 car designed, produced and assembled entirely by Toro Rosso at Faenza in Italy that was previously the base of the Minardi team.

Toro Rosso's technical director is Giorgio Ascanelli, a former race engineer to late triple world champion Ayrton Senna. Ascanelli said the need to lower the nose this year has had "a significant effect on the design" of the STR7.

"This is a safety rule put forward by the FIA [Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, world governing body of motorsport] in order to tune the height of the nose to match the anti-penetration panels which have been applied to the side of the monocoque to protect the driver," he said. "The shape of the front end of the car is now less favourable than it was in terms of its aerodynamics... We also had to contend with a rule change that extended the anti-penetration panels around the car which are now larger, to provide greater protection for the driver: a good move for the drivers, but one with implications on the performance of the car.

"The third point relates to the exhausts as the rules now demand we relocate the exhaust exit to a more benign position, which effectively means no low exhaust blowing under the diffuser just ahead of the rear wheel. This has involved moving the exhausts higher, to where they were in 2009, before the new rules regarding bodywork had come out.

"This rule change has therefore led to the loss of a very high energy stream that will slow the cars down considerably, unless of course someone has come up with something particularly interesting!

"The exhaust blowing restrictions will effectively reduce the effect by a massive amount, down to about 10 per cent of what it was last year.

"Less obvious to the naked eye, another technical directive from the FIA limits very much what you can do to the engine in terms of electronic set-up... It will be very difficult to get any advantage over one's opponents out of this area as it is now closely monitored.

"One very significant change concerns the front wing. It was announced quite late in the form of an FIA technical directive: concerned by vibration and excessive deflection of the front wing, for 2012, the governing body has drastically reduced the flexibility of the front wing, allowing it to move by only 10mm instead of 20mm when a 100kg load is applied to it.

"The need for added stiffness means an increase in weight and so we have a large amount of weight added to the nose of the car, which can be problematic in dealing with the regulation regarding the weight distribution of the car.

"Looking at the design of STR7 in general terms, we could start from the fact that 2011's STR6 was a good concept, but it did not lend itself well to running a low exhaust and was better with a high one.

"Therefore it was logical that, as the rules have changed in this direction, we should stick with a similar concept for 2012, expanding on the idea and its characteristics.

"Cooling as always, plays a major part in the design of the car and we have done something which should allow even more of an undercut on the sidepods, aimed at getting a better streamlining of the rear car.

"In simple terms, we have made a shorter chassis, with a larger distance between the engine and the gearbox, so that the car can be thinner and more streamlined.

"We have tried to improve the behaviour of our DRS (drag reduction system, or driver-adjustable rear wing) and we have a new generation of wings aimed at this.

"We have also worked on the braking system, because we wanted to improve its efficiency, both front and rear... On paper it seems to be very strong."

Toro Rosso's chief engineer, Frenchman Laurent Mekies, said that, while there were not a lot of changes to the sporting rules this year, there were many complexities for design teams to address.

"It's the second year for Pirelli tyres, so we are not facing a big jump into the unknown, but there are some changes to compound and shape," Mekies said.

"Overall, tyre influence on the racing in 2011 was really good and I hope they keep a combination of surprises and aggressive compound choices for the races in such a way that strategy can play an interesting and significant role.

"As a midfield team, it is in the interests of Scuderia Toro Rosso to have this extra factor to account for during the race.

"Once again we can expect a very tight midfield group. Last year we had the exciting situation of as many as 10 cars within a few tenths of a second one another, where the slightest thing could mean the difference between a good weekend and a bad one.

"DRS is in a pretty stable state and last year it worked quite well in general and improved the racing -- it is now an understood effect in which the driver plays a big role.

"Our new drivers [Ricciardo and French rookie Jean-Eric Vergne] will have to learn how to work with it under race conditions, which is a very different game compared with using it in practice when they activate DRS to get the best lap possible.

"In the race you can only use it at certain times and sometimes you have to use it in conjunction with KERS to get yourself in an overtaking position... It's an interesting game and I hope our drivers enjoy it!

"With two new drivers [after Toro Rosso dumped Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari], our highest priority is to give them as much mileage as possible before the first race and in practice in the early races of the season, so as to get them up to speed as quickly as possible.

"This means whatever technical program we have, it must, when possible, include high mileage.

"Scuderia Toro Rosso has a track record of working with new drivers and it is a known challenge with plenty of positives: the drivers bring enthusiasm, a fresh attitude and new ideas and they are extremely keen to show what they are made of and it is a fantastic motivation for everyone in the team.

"Both of them [Ricciardo and Vergne] have an exceptional speed record and all of us are keen to find out how quick they are in an F1 car!

"In the past, we have seen that the learning curve is never smooth and it comes with steps in it... We must be prepared to have a few changes of performance trends, with one driver doing better in one part of the season and another showing an increase in performance at a different point in the year.

"The points you score in the early stages of the season will be vital for us. Normally the first few races present a good opportunity for midfield runners, because there are usually a few more casualties among the very top teams in the opening GPs.

"Another aspect of a GP weekend that continues to have a significant effect on the work cycle is the lack of in-season testing... One has to invest time for future car development, while balancing that against trying to find the perfect set-up for qualifying and the race, all within the four hours of free practice per weekend.

"When one needs to try dramatically different set-up or evaluate new components for future development, it is a difficult compromise."

Vergne will take over the STR7 testing duties on Thursday and Friday after Ricciardo does the first two days.

Watch the launch of the F1 Red Bull team cars